


1-0-2-3

by ninthdynasty



Series: Project Paladin [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Akira is Keith, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Escaping said laboratory, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Friends to Lovers, Height Differences, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Keith is Akira, Laboratories, Lotor With Brown Hair, Minor Character Death, Modern Setting, Multi, Panic Attacks, Pining, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Swearing, Telekinetic Keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-21 23:49:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 58,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13154664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninthdynasty/pseuds/ninthdynasty
Summary: Project Paladin was supposed to open up gateways to these children’s minds and enable them with extraordinary psychic abilities, at least three of the seven harbouring multiple from telepathy to teleportation.- x - x - x - x -How does someone afraid of the powers they possess try to live the life of a somewhat normal teenager? Not very well apparently.(Otherwise known as the telekinetic-Keith-who-escapes-a-lab-and-somewhat-survives-high-school-AU sprinkled with Klance no one asked for but me)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably some universe nobody really thought about. So I will gladly be the one to send you to the weird plot and ideas that the thing I call my brain made up one night. 
> 
> Frankly, I don’t know how I’ll really end this story and I can already sense this will be a long one, so I’m pretty much winging it. This also means I’ll most likely have to edit chapters once I realize I forgot to mention something or I contradicted myself :( but I hope you can bear with me.
> 
> I also binge watched both seasons of Stranger Things and that’s most likely what inspired me to write this story.

_Project :_ Paladin  
_Test Subject :_ 1023  
_Subject Name :_ A k i r a  
_Status :_ Alive — Only  
_Progress :_ Power continues to improve  
_Number of tests :_ Ongoing

_Test Number 11_

_Subject 1023 is placed in front of glass window (2 inches). Glass cracks and breaks easily. Test continues with concrete. Difficulties. Failure._

_E N D O F T E S T_

_Test Number 68_

_Subject 1023 is targeted by projectiles- books. Books are stopped easily. Projectiles change to rocks. Success. Projectiles are changed to blades. Success. Projectiles are changed to bullets...Success._

_T E S T C O N T I N U E S_

_Test Number 345_

_Subject 1023 is submerged in ice cold water. Bodily functions appear to be slowing down. Lights appear to have no effect. Thirty seconds in, subject has activated powers and has created a bubble in the bottom of the tank. Glass tank is cracking. Glass tank breaks._

_E N D O F T E S T_

_Project Paladin._

Lotor tightened his grip on the notebook given to him, walking down the dim and undecorated corridors of the laboratory.

The hallways seemed to stretch further than deemed necessary and the overuse of white did ironically nothing to brighten up the place. The only thing that was remotely aesthetically pleasing were the purple lights that lit up the floor and the ceiling, sometimes curving into the walls. He was never particularly a fan of his father’s design of the building. Then again, he was never particularly a fan of his father in general.

Yet here he was, in his early teens no less, having to slave away under his father’s wishes and commands. He had been told— more so ordered to work at Galra Laboratory, owned by his father, Zarkon and his second wife, Honerva. All his father ever cared about was this damn lab all because of that wretched, science-crazed stepmother of his.

So his two ever-so delightful parents forced him to work in Project Paladin, an experiment of the mind. It was a huge project that his parents were funding, naturally extremely confidential. The lab collected children with potential, tests proving that they seemed to be something more than the average person. Originally, there were seven subjects in this particular project and if he remembered correctly, four were female and three were male. Their ages varied, but the youngest subject currently was ten while the eldest was eighteen.

Project Paladin was supposed to open up gateways to these children’s minds and enable them with extraordinary psychic abilities, at least three of the seven harbouring multiple from telepathy to teleportation.

Lotor assisted a group of scientists in collecting data on one of the subjects specifically, Narti or more commonly referred to as Subject 0917. He wasn’t supposed to do much. Just watch over Narti and record anything remarkably interesting, which for a superhuman was literally anything. He could’ve sworn one time he saw one of the other observers record how many times she inhaled and exhaled for an hour.

If he succeeded with this job, his parents discussed moving him to work with much more skilled subjects in Project Paladin, hinting already that Narti’s capabilities weren’t quite what his parents were looking for, no matter how truly amazing they were.

Narti was a blind female and not much older than Lotor, being the eldest subject they had. She had relatively short dark hair and a pale complexion on the brink of a bluish gray. Even Lotor knew that the conditions in the lab were never the best for the subjects, but even so it was a bit unsettling to think about all the tests she had been through thus far.

The scientists who had been working there longer had said that they placed each subject in a certain area of the lab based on their shown abilities and the power of them. And from the looks of Narti’s living space, she apparently didn’t have much to offer compared to the other six. It was a plain square room with a mattress laid in the corner. The walls and floor were made of cold stone, both different shades of grey. It looked like a prison cell, but instead of bars separating them, it was bulletproof glass.

One thing Lotor noted was that he had never seen Narti’s eyes before, not once since he had been sent to work with her. She had bandages covering her eyes, wrapping around her head quite tightly. There were days where he entered the room and her bandages were worn and tattered. Other days she would have fresh bandages. Lotor was never there to see her change them.

He couldn’t help but wonder what colour they were. Or what expression she held. It was always a thought that would nag him as he sat in front of the huge glass windows. He asked one of the head scientists one day on the matter.

“0917...she used to be extremely hostile and stubborn,” the scientist explained. “As a result testing her ability was challenging. Ms. Daibazaal, your mother put her here and ran some…private experiments.”

Lotor held back a grimace at the mention of Honerva. He preferred when people didn’t acknowledge her as his parent.

“After those tests...she became extremely tame and docile. It was a complete change of character. But she refuses to remove her bandages,” the scientist continued. “She once said that it helped her see better this way.”

Lotor didn’t press any further. He watched silently as Narti was led out of her “room” to another area deeper in the lab known as ARENA (Area of Recurrent Experimentation of Neurogenic Abilities) where all the tests and experiments took place. Lotor pushed a few long brown locks behind his ear, following the other scientists who left the room to head to ARENA.

He had been taken several times to observe Narti’s improvement. Occasionally he would see other subjects in Project Paladin. He remembered seeing a young female with abilities of teleportation and also a boy with pyrokinesis. He believed Honerva also mentioned twin girls harboring telepathy.

Narti was brought into ARENA as well-guarded men released two animals inside, one being a cat and the other being a wild boar. Apparently, her duty was to choose one and somehow get “rid”of the other. Her choice would be heavily observed and recorded. Lotor felt uneasy watching it all unfold but remained still. He really couldn’t afford acting like a fool. Not when he was standing in his parents’ lab.

From what he could tell, his stepmother would definitely prefer if Narti chose the boar as it was more powerful and could quite easily kill the cat if Narti commanded so. However, Narti stretches a hand forward to the feline as it pounced gracefully onto her shoulder. A scientist scowled scribbling down information before instructing the guarded men to provoke the boar into hostility. The boar went wild and ran frantically towards Narti who stood quite calmly. She had complete control over the situation and this was evident when the boar steered away from her and went towards the guards who easily disposed of it.

Lotor felt utterly disgusted watching the scene as he knew for a fact that Honerva planned all the experiments condoned in the lab. And she was well aware of their cruelty. Or maybe she wasn’t and somewhere in her mind she saw it all in the name of science. Either way, he was disgusted. He couldn’t get his mind off of what had happened, endlessly envisioning the blood that spilled onto the tile floors. He couldn’t sleep for nights straight.

A few days later, Lotor had arrived to work as always. As usual, the first few hours went by quite calmly. Narti wasn’t doing much besides playing and communicating with the cat that refused to leave her side from earlier. He would never admit it, but it was nice seeing the two of their interactions. They looked—felt bonded. It was a pleasant sight. As pleasant as one could get in a high tech laboratory.

He worked silently and diligently, writing and filling out data sheets. There were only a few more minutes left before Narti was to be brought to the ARENA. Apparently, Honerva was going to personally watch that day. He assumed it was one of her “best” experiments that was too endearing for her when she planned it for her to miss.

Lotor couldn’t help but scowl. Despite that, he continued to work. If he worked hard enough, he may be given the chance to talk to some of the subjects in the project. He was curious. He wanted to talk to Narti and the others, even if it wouldn’t go the way he wanted. Of course, he had never really seen the other subjects for long enough, but he could’ve sworn he heard a few of them speak languages quite fluently. From his experience, Narti barely uttered a word. He signed off one of the papers with his name as he wondered why there was such a huge differentiation between the treatment of all the subjects.

Then he felt weird. Like he was flipped upside down yet still standing up straight. Like he was still in his body, yet something else was interfering. Something stronger. Like someone was seeing with his eyes. He saw his hand move towards one of the levers on the control panel even though he had made no move to do so.

Lotor knew what was happening. He was no fool, yet even so he let his guard down for a mere few seconds whilst daydreaming. Narti has the ability to see through the eyes of others and even control their movements, like a puppet on a string. It was mind control.

However, before she could make him press the few buttons to open the metal door, he in his sluggish state held onto the last of his control bit his tongue as hard as he could possibly muster. Pain coursed through his body and he felt like he was thrown against the ground even if he didn’t move an inch. He felt her presence knock out of him.

He studied her abilities and had watched experiments to see her improvements and her weaknesses. Of course he’d know what to do if she ever tried to pull off something like that. _Pain_. If her vessel felt pain her control will weaken. If the pain was strong enough, her control will be completely over. She hadn’t trained enough with her abilities to have enough power to sustain her control even with pain yet. Lotor tasted blood in his mouth.

The brunette looked back up at Narti who was pressed against the glass window, a small smile displayed on her usually stoic face. Lotor had always assumed that seeing Narti smile would be pleasant—a nice change. Something that would fuel the hope Lotor had of these peoples’ sanity. This however was just disturbing. Her cat was curled on her shoulder, purring. That only seemed to widen her grin.

Suddenly, a hand pulled the lever down and pressed the buttons necessary to unlock the door. In shock, Lotor looked up to see one of the scientists, dazed and in a trance. Moving quickly, the brunette attempted to close the door again to no avail. Narti had already slipped through, moving quickly in order to escape. From the looks of it, she had planned her escape long ago.

Lotor cursed under his breath slapping the scientist he could care less to attach a name to for his stupidity and to also free him from his trance. He ran out the door and made a sharp turn to reach where Narti’s room led. He saw a group of armed men already there, though none of them moved. They all stood ever so obediently and Lotor wondered when she learned to control multiple people.

She pushed past the group, taking her time as she walked further down the corridor. Lotor pulled out the taser his father had given him. He never thought he would have to use it. Narti stalked closer, her smile was growing crazed and Lotor suddenly felt pity for her. She lurched forward, arms swaying with no means of fighting. She was sort of like a rag doll, flopping about. Lotor still held his taser in a battle stance, unsure when to strike as his opponent didn’t appear to be attacking either.

“Mom,” she barely spoke above a whisper yet it still traveled through the empty corridor. “Dad.”

Her voice seemed chillingly calm, yet afraid. It wasn’t exactly how he had imagined it.

Lotor wasn’t really sure what to do, and yet he still analyzed the situation, thinking up any possible plan to get out of this successfully with them both unharmed. He racked his brain for an answer, but time was ticking and even _he_ couldn’t figure out exactly what to do.

He scowled as he lowered his taser.

“Narti,” he said calmly and as gently as he could possibly muster in this situation. “Calm down.”

“Narti,” she repeated, her already slow pace slowing down further.

It never once came to mind that she wasn’t really referred to her actual name in the lab.

“Take a deep breath,” Lotor continued. “And think about what you are doing right now.”

Narti brought her arm up, petting her cat who purred in response.

“Free,” Narti responded. “Mom. Dad. Free.”

Not what Lotor wanted as an answer.

Narti suddenly staggered forward and before Lotor could dodge out of the way she grabbed onto his shirt. Her bandages were sliding off her face as she scrambled to grab a hold of him. He felt himself turn on the taser in his hand, but he never used it. Instead, Narti gasped out a gurgled breath, grip weakening. Foam seemed to form, oozing out of her mouth as she wheezed out a last wispy, “Free.”

Lotor in his utter shock found himself staring into pale blue eyes paralyzed in utter fear, before they glazed over. Dead.

Her full body weight was suddenly bearing overtop of him and he somehow managed to get her off of him and lying down on the floor. He couldn’t even take a second for his thought process to recover before he was staring at the blood on the white floor, pouring from Narti’s back. _Just like the boar._

“Subject 0917. How unfortunate.”

Lotor could recognize the hag’s voice from anywhere, eyes flashing upwards to see Honerva carrying a bladed baton, now riddled with blood. He suddenly felt sick. Her white lab coat was also stained though it appeared she didn’t care. As if the thought of human blood on her wasn’t revolting.

“I could’ve handled the situation,” Lotor spoke, making sure not to let his anger show through. “Death didn’t have to be the answer.”

“Though she showed potential, I found her progress slow and therefore unimportant for this project,” Honerva replies simply as if anything about it was simple. “0917 was always problematic and it was much more convenient this way. Now we can focus all our resources to the much more promising subjects.

“Clean up this mess, you useless idiots,” she scowled, motioning at the guards who had come to their senses. “If you could do your jobs properly, we wouldn’t have lost a subject like this.”

Lotor felt disgusted with how his stepmother viewed them. They were like playthings in her mind. Not humans. Just experiments to toy with.

“Even so, this outbreak has gained us much information,” Honerva lightened up. “More than when she was alive I suppose.”

Lotor gripped the taser still in his hand tighter, tempted to electrocute the woman to death right then and there, but refrained from doing so. Patience. He had to wait for the right time.

“Lotor,” Honerva addressed him. “I expect you to come report what you experienced later.”

It wasn’t like he could avoid her. He would be dragged into her office by her guards if she wanted.

“Because of your hard work, you’ll be given a new assignment. Your father and I still believe you have much more room to learn,”she finished.

Lotor only glared at her in response. They were only trying to busy him so they would have one less thing to worry about. He wanted to laugh at her words. What hard work? Letting his subject die? He probably gave a half-assed reply before making a move to turn away. He couldn’t deal with this right now.

“Your new assignment,” her voice rang out suddenly as if her sole reason to speak was to prevent him from moving which unfortunately worked. “The subject 1023 is our best. He’s been showing incredible progress in his abilities to this date. If you know what’s best for you, you will not mess this up.”

Lotor spun on his heel without a word, walking down the hallway until he managed to find one of the restrooms. He washed his face, splashing on cool water in order to calm himself. He stared at his reflection, briefly remarking how all this stress was eventually going to give him white hairs.

He just needed something to distract him from what he had just witnessed. Someone he had literally spent weeks with just died in his arms. Sure, they were never best friends or albeit close, but Lotor still felt horrified having someone he grew curious about get murdered in front of him. He shivered at the thought of her cold, steely eyes staring into his. He could see the pain in them, not just from her fatal wound, but from years of horrors and trauma. Lotor began to wonder if that was what her eyes always looked like underneath those bandages. Paralyzed in eternal fear.

He felt nauseous, gripping the sink to stable himself and in attempt to keep himself from vomiting. He felt his hands shake uncontrollably as he held onto the cool surface. Being his son, Lotor understood that Zarkon was a cruel man, Honerva possibly even crueler. But even still, this laboratory, his parents’ pride and joy was absolutely revolting. More than anything, Lotor wanted it to burn to the ground in front of him. _Wait. Be patient_. Not now. Not yet.

Backing up from the sink, Lotor ran a hand through his long hair. The hag had the nerve to give him another subject to study almost immediately after his last one died by her hands in front of him. Through his frustration, he couldn’t help but wonder why she suddenly assigned him their best subject in the project since he had previously worked with their weakest. He shook off the feeling to think about later. In spite, he would read and memorize the files and tests on this subject 1023.

— x — x — x — x —

1023.

That was who he was. He played those numbers in his head again. It didn’t sound like any name he learned from the books they had given him. Nobody had numbers in their names. They had letters...actual characters. He couldn’t even find names in the other languages he knew with numbers. But that was what was on his right arm and he was always referred to by the men and women with lab coats as such.

He didn’t dwell on that fact for too long, sitting cross legged on the flattened rug on the floor. He played with the hems of the oversized grey shirt and shorts he was forced to wear constantly in attempts to entertain his mind. The few books they left in his room had already been reread at least five times each. There wasn’t much to do in his room. But anything was better than being outside of it. He’d take boredom over... _that_.

He didn’t feel like reading them again yet they were placed at the other side of the room, stacked neatly as if to coax him.

He pushed a strand of raven hair behind his ear with a sigh. He had never seen himself in the mirror before, but if he held a section of hair he could see that it was black. That was all he really knew about his appearance.

His eyes flickered back to the books sitting innocently away from him. With another sigh, he stared back at the books, concentrating intently before one by one they began to levitate towards him. A red one reached him first, but he let it idly move around his head. Next was a green. Then a yellow. And then a blue. He focused letting all the books circle around him before making them open to a random page.

He picked the green one, skimming the English words before turning to the blue book, eyes scanning quickly over the Spanish. He sometimes faltered in attempt to remember a certain word, but reminded himself that that was probably the only reason why he willed himself to read these stories repeatedly. He finally decided to finish off his reading session with the red book, reading the Japanese poetry before closing all the books simultaneously.

With nothing else to really do, he moved the books in the air, making them form shapes and patterns. He effortlessly had each book flip their pages before spinning around one another and allowed them to close up and move to line up together. The boy concentrated on moving the books back into their place on the other side of the room when suddenly the huge metal door of the room slid open. Purple lights gleamed for a mere three seconds before fading away. They were the only reason he liked when the door opened.

He instantly dropped his hold on the books and they all landed with several thuds that made him regret it. He didn’t like denting or damaging them. They were all he had to call his own.

The subject quickly turned to face who had entered, realizing that he had never seen this person before. He looked younger than the people he was used to seeing, honing long brown hair and periwinkle eyes. His skin was a fair tone, contrasting against his dark hair. From the looks of it, he was fairly tall as well.

There was a black bag slung over his shoulder.

“There’s no need for you to stop.” His voice was also much different. It didn’t command him of something. It was more of a reassurance that the other didn’t fully understand.

“Can you show me what you were doing before?” the tall male asked, calmly once again without hostility.

The seated ravenette felt no threat thus far, though he still remained a bit wary. However, he felt no urge to disobey or ignore his question. After all, where ever he was, everyone there wanted to see his abilities. He stopped resisting as much a while ago.

Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the scattered books, focusing on lifting them once again. He made them levitate through the air once more, twirling around one another occasionally before stacking them and finally placing them back across the room. Small movements like those stopped straining him a long time ago.

“Incredible,” the taller brunette said in awe. Carefully, he made his way to sit beside the subject.

“My name is Lotor,” he introduced himself. “It is quite an unusual name. My father named me after a lab-made plant he and my mother had discovered.”

“Lo-tor,”the other said aloud.

When he didn’t speak afterwards, Lotor continued, “You may not know this, but your name is Akira.”

The subject pointed to himself warily. He only had numbers to address himself. When did he receive a name?

“Akira,” he repeated, finding that he kind of liked the sound of it. “Japanese.”

Lotor nodded his head before holding out a hand. Confused, Akira only stared at it before looking back up at the other’s face. He studied the hand before him, noting how long and slender his fingers were and how they contained no calluses or roughness. Everyone’s hands were different from what he had observed of the other people he had seen. It was strange.

“We shake hands after we meet. It’s sort of a custom,”Lotor explained. “Here let me show you.”

The brunette slowly grabbed a hold of the other’s hand, making sure he was absolutely comfortable and not utterly terrified by the action. He shook his hand firmly as Akira tilted his head in awe.

“Ok. Let’s try that again,” Lotor said. “Hi, my name is Lotor.”

He waited patiently for the other to respond.

“Hello. My name is Akira,” the ravenette replied slowly before they shook hands.

“You must be wondering why I am here,” Lotor pointed out. “I was told to help in your language and basic studies as well as practising your abilities in this room.”

Akira listened tentatively before he managed to grasp every single word and nod his head in confirmation. He never really had any of the lab coat people teach him the languages they were so keen on him learning. That was most likely why he fell into boredom rereading the stories he could almost understand completely. It would be nice to finally comprehend the words that have stumped him for so long.

“I believe that I should start to improve your skills in a certain language before we move onto some training exercises,” Lotor continued, pulling out a few workbooks from his satchel. “Why don’t we start with some English.”

Akira didn’t feel compelled to fight or disobey. The other seemed genuine in a sense. He could almost feel the other’s aura transmitting into the atmosphere. It was something he couldn’t explain, yet he could sense that the other’s intentions were true, unlike most of the people in the building.

They worked on vocabulary and grammar as Akira began to attempt to speak faster and more fluently. He brushed up a bit more on the other languages he was taught earlier as well. Lotor scribbled some notes into a notebook before closing it. He pulled out a few items from his shoulder bag setting them down onto the rough floor.

“Let’s start with the apple first,” the brunette explained, picking up the red fruit and setting it down in front of the younger boy.

“It is alright if you feel uncomfortable about using your abilities,” he continued. “But this is for your improvement. This is just for you to gain more control.”

Akira nodded his head slowly before waiting for more instruction. He knew he needed to gain more control over these powers. He was too impulsive, his emotions would occasionally override and trigger them. And it almost always ended up with him regretting it.

“All you need to do is crush this apple.”

And so, the ravenette took a deep breath, focusing on the fruit, watching as it slowly crumble into itself. He quickly levitated the crushed apple into the air to prevent pieces from flying out onto the floor.

They moved onto other small tests that Lotor had compiled together. Akira solved a Rubix cube he had to keep suspended in the air. He practised writing letters and characters with a pen and paper only using his abilities. And finally, he had to stop a ball from hitting him when it was thrown towards him.

Each day, Lotor would return, aiding him in languages and other subjects such as maths and sciences before they worked on mind activities that got increasingly more difficult. And for a while, Akira was a bit content. This other boy was nice and helped him. He liked to talk to him and was slowly getting better at it.

It wasn’t until the doors of his confinement were opened and it wasn’t Lotor that he remembered that they hadn’t taken him to that place in a while. A group of men and women dressed in white lab coats barged in, instructing him to follow them. It wasn’t like he had a choice. He could either walk or get dragged there.

He held back a frown, but still followed the group down the hallways he still was struggling to remember. He glared at the floor as he watched his feet walk him towards an all too familiar room. Guards in protective gear ushered him inside before closing the door behind him.

He hated whatever this place was. He never knew what they were going to do to him. He hated knowing that people were watching and observing from behind glass.

He took a tentative step forward, continuing further into the room, still unsure of what they wanted him to do. His hand brushed glass. He took a step back. He bumped into another thick glass pane. He looked around, relating it all to the puzzles he had to solve. It was a glass maze.

Carefully, he began to move along the glass, slowly finding his way through the maze. When he finally believed he understood the purpose, the lights that had illuminated the room dimmed. It was enough to somewhat see, but he found himself bumping into glass more often. There was no longer enough light to reflect off the surface.

Akira felt himself grow more panicked. He turned constantly, meeting glass no matter where he went. He attempted to feel for the glass only to end up in circles. He kept walking and could feel all the eyes watching him. Observing. He moved faster, frantically trying to find a way out.

He hated it here. They always did this to him. They always scared him.

It was too much. He was stuck and he didn’t know how to get out. He didn’t want to be trapped forever in this wretched glass maze. In this place.

His heart was beating faster, and his breathing was heavy. He brought his hands to his head as he slowly knelt onto the ground attempting to calm himself and think his way through. And suddenly, through all his panic, the glass maze shattered. Shards rained down and fell onto the floor, but none of them hit him or hurt him. The floor was covered in broken glass, scattered like landmines.

Akira stared at the circle of floor around him, untouched by shards. He felt his breathing slowly return to a normal pace. Slowly standing up, all the glass that littered the floor pushed away from him, clearing the floor around him.

He could hear the distinct voices of men and women chatting about what had just occurred. Which was odd as he could’ve sworn the windows were soundproof.

Suddenly a well-guarded man lifted him up as if he weighed nothing—which wasn’t far off at this point, over the glass and out into the hallway. He felt a bit tired after using his powers up to that extent, only snapping out of haziness when he was thrown not too gently back into his room, hitting the floor with a bruising thud.

He managed to hoist himself onto the bed, the hard surface seemingly the most comfortable place to rest for a while though it wasn’t too different from the floor. He began to notice a change in the way his mind worked. After Lotor began helping him, he began to have a better endurance of them. Before, doing something like earlier would’ve exhausted him into unconsciousness. However, the fear of how he had no control over it still nudged him awake even if he felt so drained.

His emotions—his panic was the one that broke that glass. Not him. And that was what scared him. Knowing he never had complete control over what he did. Knowing that without meaning to, he could hurt someone.

And with that thought his mind slipped into dreams—visions of corridors lined with purple lights leading down to a dark vent.

— x — x — x — x —

Years past.

Akira sat in the same room, eyes closed yet mind busy. Remembering.

He dared ask Lotor one time how old the brunette was. He said seventeen. Akira risked asking if he knew how old he was. Lotor had replied saying that he was currently fifteen. And only then did he truly realize that he wasted so many years in the same building.

He didn’t know why, but years of talking with the only person who ever bothered communicating him, created an unlikely friendship, thought it was a friendship he treasured. He trusted Lotor believe it or not. He could feel waves of emotions emitting off the other boy, an expression in his pale blue eyes that he couldn’t quite place just yet.

Lotor gave him an English dictionary one year. Akira obsessed over it, reading and memorizing as many words as he could, even if Lotor never assigned him any vocabulary. He wanted to learn more and speak more. He was now fluent in multiple languages, but english and Japanese were by far his favourites.

One time, while he scrolled through the dictionary, he stumbled across a word :

_**tel·e·ki·ne·sis** ˌteləkəˈnēsis (noun)  
the supposed ability to move objects at a distance by mental power or other non physical means._

  
He had sat there, rereading the words over and over again, wondering if this was what he could finally associate his abilities to. Telekinesis. He had repeated the word to himself, closing the dictionary and smiling a bit. He kind of liked the sound of it. And in the small moment of bliss, he levitated the dictionary into the air and moved it around the room.

He had learned a lot over the years not only about Lotor and what the world was like, but also using his powers. He learned that his friend hated the laboratory as much as he did. Probably even more. Whenever he talked about the building or his parents, his expression always darkened. It was evident he hated those topics. And even so, the older boy never denied him answers for the millions of questions he asked.

_“What’s it like outside?”_

_“Outside?...Loud, sometimes overwhelming, but different. It’s full of interesting people.”_

_“Is it...nice?”_

_“In some cases, yes. In other cases, not so much. It’s better than here.”_

_“Is it scary out there?”_

_“There are always going to be things that scare you. Naturally, it will be in some ways out there.”_

_“Do you like it?”_

_“The outside?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“...”_

_“...”_

_“Maybe if you were there.”_

He had fun making Lotor’s long hair levitate above his head, braiding and styling it into an assortment of hairdos. Naturally, the brunette was never the biggest fan of his spontaneous hair attacks, but he still held an amused smile every time.

_“Why do you keep your hair so long?”_

_“Would you believe me if I said it was because you do this to me everyday?”_

_“Sorry, but no.”_

_“I’ve never really had appearances as the most stressful thing for me to tend to. If it grows, it grows.”_

_“Appearances…is that something important?”_

_“It depends.”_

_“Oh...I’ve never really seen myself before.”_

_“Ever?”_

_“If I have, I don’t remember anymore. What do I look like?”_

_“You’re asking me?”_

_“Well, you can see, right?”_

_“Of course.”_

_“...”_

_“You’re...you’re beautiful, Akira.”_

_“Beautiful? I don’t quite understand how that describes me.”_

_“You can worry about that later.”_

Lotor had curiosities as well. He’d ask peculiar questions, but Akira never really thought much of it. Their friendship was mutual, so naturally if one side receives and the other gives it would work vice versa as well.

_“I’m the only one who calls you Akira.”_

_“Yes, you are.”_

_“Do you like it? Your name?”_

_“I guess. Don’t I have to?”_

_“Not necessarily. I think mine’s a bit strange.”_

_“Lotor?”_

_“Yes. I was named after a scientifically discovered laboratory plant. It’s a bit of an odd name.”_

_“I like it.”_

_“My name?”_

_“Yeah. It’s really different. Nobody else in the world has that name.”_

_“I guess you do have a point.”_

_“Also, it’s funny because I doubt people can spell it right.”_

_“Ha ha. Very funny. Now take this book and tell me which name you like the best.”_

_“...”_

_“...”_

_“This one.”_

_“Keith?”_

_“Yup.”_

_“Interesting...it has a ring to it. I like it too.”_

_“Why did you ask?”_

_“That’s not too important right now. Let’s move onto the next activity.”_

When Akira lay in bed at night, he made himself float above it, lingering in the small feeling of freedom before falling back down. He learned to split objects like apples into clean cut halves and use his telekinesis to write neatly.

He also discovered other things about his capabilities. In that testing room, he made a foreign man forget who he was. It was one of the worst things he had ever witnessed, seeing someone who once knew their name not remember a single detail about themself or their family. With a lot of effort he managed to return the memories afterwards, refusing to leave the room until he succeeded despite the experiment apparently being over. He was still left shaken. He made a vow to himself never to do that again.

At night when he dreamt, he would see visions—images of the building’s hallways. His mind would travel through them and they all ended with him crawling through a large vent, though he’d always wake up in cold sweat before he could see where it lead.

And now he was sitting here, finally coming to an understanding of his weird dreams. Maybe he was rushing it, maybe he was wrong. But he was going to leave this room. Leave this place and make it outside. He was almost certain that was where that vent lead. To freedom. The words almost felt foreign in his mind.

He wanted to be _free_.

Over the past years it was as if the building—the lab had nothing but him to focus on. They would drill him through experiments and sleepless days and nights just to obtain information on what he could do. He hated it. He hated them. And now, he was going to do what he always wanted to do.

During one of his experiments, he managed to smuggle a shard of glass and hide it in his mattress. Now, he held the piece in his hands, taking a deep breath before using the shard to chop off chunks of hair that had grown over the years. He dropped the shard, using his powers to move all the ebony hair on the floor away from him. His bangs still covered his eyes and his hair still curled further down his neck, but he didn’t have much time to waste.

Hastily, he placed a hand on the cool metal door, waiting to hear footsteps pass by before managing to wrench it open with a quick motion of his hand. He crawled through the warped metal, closing his eyes and envisioning the many bulb shaped cameras that monitored the building before he crushed the lenses. He quietly moved down the corridor, watching the all too familiar purple lights illuminate the way. He had seen these hallways in his dreams so many times, it was fairly easy running through them and turning at the right places.

At first, the halls were empty and when he heard footsteps, he ducked and hid behind anything possible. He could hear his heartbeat, his breathing. And every second he hoped no one else did.

He took a sharp right.

“Hey!” a guard further in front of him shouted, having noticed who he was and what he was attempting to do.

The taller and bulkier man came barreling forward, swinging a baton. It glistened in the light. _Bladed_.

Akira managed to dodge the attack,running past him in attempt to leave the laboratory as quietly as possible. However, the guard recovered quickly to run after him, calling for backup. Impulsively, Akira sent the man flying backwards into a nearby wall after hearing him instruct more armed forces to come to their specific location. He broke the walkie talkie as well.

Gritting his teeth, the ravenette continued to run, swiftly following the directions he had memorized for so long. Although he hoped it wouldn’t happen, he came face to face with a group of people, all ready to subdue him. Almost immediately they sprang at him. He managed to dodge most of their attacks, avoiding tasers and knives before a woman managed to trip him when he tried to move past her.

He rolled across the floor. He didn’t have time to waste lying on the ground, but before he could get up, a hand yanked him by his shirt, throwing him against a wall.

“Where do you think you’re going?” a voice said. He could feel the people surround him, ready to beat him for his defiance. For him wanting to leave.

On instinct once again, he pushed all of them back to the other end of the hallway, breaking the walls and moving the debris to blockade the group from him. He ran further down, disabling a few more cameras.

He was reaching the vent, so close to freedom, sprinting through the building before he ran into the last person he wanted to confront.

“Akira,” Lotor seemed shocked at first to see him standing there. He was still carrying the shoulder bag he kept with him constantly, with a pile of documents of sorts in hand.

“I’m sorry, Lotor,” Akira spoke quickly, but the other only shook their head in understanding having already put two and two together.

“No, I understand,” the brunette didn’t sound upset, yet there was a twinge of melancholy in his eyes. “You must go now. I am surprised you’ve even waited this long. Get as far away from here as possible, Akira. Live a life outside of this place. That is my last wish for you.”

“Take this,” Lotor opened up his bag, grabbing everything he needed before passing the bag itself to Akira. “I made documents and things that would help you if the day ever came.”

Akira slung the bag hesitantly over his shoulder. Having seen it for so long with the other, it felt weird. He felt destroyed leaving his only friend behind, especially when he hated it there as well. He acknowledged that Lotor, his first friend even went as far as to prepare things for his escape before the idea even came across _his_ own mind. He felt unsure, wanting to reach out and touch the other one last time. Embrace him, yet he couldn’t.

A few shouts from hallways nearby snapped the two out of their thoughts. He didn’t have much time.

“Break the wall over there,” Lotor instructed quickly, throwing his papers onto the floor, scattering them. “I hope I will see you again someday, Akira. I hope this lab will be gone before you ever have the fear of returning to it.”

Akira nodded his head with a sad smile without a word, fearing what it’d be like to actually say goodbye. Instead, he cracked the wall next to him as told and took one last quick glance at his friend who only smiled one last time back at him.

The ravenette then opened the vent and slipped inside, moving swiftly. Once he managed to reach the end of the vent, he sent the cover possibly way too far out and hopped onto the cold grass. The sensation wasn’t exactly how he expected it to feel, but he had no time to dwell on it. For good measure he caved the vent in on itself, effectively sealing it off before running outside into the forest, hearing the distant sound of alarms behind him.

 

 


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suddenly something grabbed and dragged him further down the alleyway. And suddenly he felt like he was back at the lab, roughly dragged down their hallways. There were purple lights and angry voices and he felt like screaming and screaming as they threw him into his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, this took ages to write and edit. When I posted the Prologue, I had the first chapter ready to go, but didn’t like it at all. So I rewrote everything and it turned out even longer the second time. 
> 
> I was reading it for the eleventh time and was like “Screw it!” I thought I would’ve finished it a lot sooner, but school just keeps shoveling work at me. I’m glad some of you are interested in where this is going because I have so many ideas that come way later and it’s killing me slowly on the inside.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this chapter. Also Akira’s name turns into Keith in this chapter ;D

Akira didn’t know how long he had been running. It was mostly adrenaline that was keeping him going and possibly the cold numbing his senses, but he could tell he was eventually going to have to stop soon. He tried to focus on his changing surroundings to distract himself from that fact.

He had ran in the forest for what seemed like hours when light still illuminated the treetops, letting his mind somehow lead him through it all. The only thought that repeated in his head was the idea that the people at the laboratory, their guards and their white lab coats were chasing after him, scouring for him as of this moment. Which if he was being honest, was probably the case. He didn’t want to be caught again no matter what. He had barely tasted freedom yet.

Akira managed to reach what appeared to be a diner, sneaking through trees. He snuck onto a truck parked there, quietly opening and closing the trailer doors. It appeared to be transporting boxes, so he sat in between a few that kept him hidden from view if someone were to open the doors.

After a few more hours of riding, the truck had stopped. Akira heard voices outside the trailer, pressing his ear against the cold metal to barely make out something about gas. Neither worker went around to the back, idly chatting at the front of the truck, so he took it as his chance to slip out of the trailer quietly.

As he quickly closed and locked the doors, he noted his surroundings. A price shone on a tall structure, the company’s name illuminated. Akira came to the conclusion that he was at a gas station also noting that the truck he just left was the only vehicle there.

The sky was dark, which gave him comfort knowing that the night would provide him a much better cover. However, the station shone bright lights that made him feel much more exposed. Quickly, he moved to the side of the building away from the actual stations where there were much more shadows to hide in and a dimmer wall light.

Seeing it as his opportunity, he cautiously zipped open the bag over his shoulder curious to see what was inside. He pulled out a stack of papers, grabbing the first one which was a small list of names. He read the first three:

_Ezor_  
_Zethrid  
Acxa_

He didn’t recognize any of the names and wondered if they were even names of people. He grabbed something else from the bag, finding a folded map. Opening it and laying it down on the cold concrete, he found a slip of paper with what appeared to be an address on it and a marker clipped at the top.

Curious, he picked up an empty bottle someone had littered near him, ripping off the bottle ring. He placed the plastic ring on top of the map, taking a deep breath and envisioning the gas station he was currently sitting in. He heard the ring slowly scritch across the paper before it stopped. Akira marked where his apparent current location was before repeating the written address over and over again in his head, moving the ring simultaneously. It stopped. He circled the area with the marker before capping it.

Taking time to visualize his path and how far away it was, he finally placed all the things back into the bag before beginning his journey on foot once again. He had to move fast before it was day again or maybe he was being too impulsive. He found his body moving once again as if it already knew where he wanted to go while he continued running on the pavement. Everything Lotor had given him served a purpose no doubt, so if he put this address on a map specifically, it definitely was somewhere significant.

He arrived somewhere with larger buildings, roads bustling with cars as he was guided by paths that turned from dirt to concrete. Lights illuminated the streets and that made things more difficult. He managed to lay low as he continued to run, heading further away where there were much less functioning lights.

Akira entered somewhere where he felt even more on edge. He wondered if Lotor really wanted him to go there. The whole place made him feel really uneasy as it consisted of brick buildings that shone no light and almost felt abandoned. He then cautiously walked into an alleyway, jumping slightly as he heard the hiss of an angry stray cat. He took a moment to let his racing heart steady.

His hands tightened their grip around the strap of the bag, attempting to think about what to do next. He always pictured his escape, but never what would happen afterwards. Akira frowned, blaming his brash actions for why he had no clue what to do now that he was probably— hopefully somewhere far away. His impulsive actions, lead by his will for freedom resulted in his current lost and confused state and that was beginning to eat away at him as he stood there pondering like an idiot.

Suddenly something grabbed and dragged him further down the alleyway. And suddenly he felt like he was back at the lab, roughly dragged down their hallways. There were purple lights and angry voices and he felt like screaming and screaming as they threw him into his room.

That was until his attacker spoke.

“What do we have here?” a gruff voice asked rhetorically. Said man had shoved Akira against the brick wall, one hand grabbing the front of his shirt threateningly.

Akira felt a few more presences surround him, able to make out a few of their features in the night. He could feel his heart beating faster by the second, the initial fear from earlier not subsiding at all. He still felt in danger and he suddenly began to wonder if this was some vicious cycle he was stuck in forever. To escape one nightmare only to end up in another.

“Listen, we don’t wanna trouble you, sonny,” the man spoke again. “We just wanna know what’s in that nice little bag of yours. Alright?”

Even in his panicked state, Akira could see through the other’s false considerate tone. His voice was deceiving.

Akira’s answer was silence, resulting in him being roughly shaken.

“I...I don’t know,” Akira simply stated. All he really knew was there was a map with an address and a list of names he didn’t understand. If he said that, they would think he was out of his mind.

He heard the group chuckle. Nothing about the situation was really funny though. It felt more sinister if anything and only made the ravenette more uncomfortable.

“Of course you do,” the man spat. “We ain’t stupid, so cut the crap. Give us the bag and we’ll be out of your way.”

“No,” some of Akira’s fear shifted to anger. He wasn’t letting this bag go. Not when there was still so much he needed to see and decipher first.

“Look, we were trying to play nice, kid,” the ringleader growled. “But if you’re going to be stupid, we just have to do it the hard way.”

Cold metal was held against Akira’s throat. He felt it prick his skin. _Knife_. Suddenly, the back alley lights began to flicker to life, dimly lighting up the alleyway. A few of the thugs mumbled in confusion. Something along the lines of how they weren’t supposed to be functional.

Now Akira could count out four of them as the light illuminated the men. He could see the sneers and smirks on all their faces now, the faintest of light seeming to highlight their worst features.

The man currently holding the knife was seemingly blond, tinges of brown staining the ends of his hair. Akira could see metal rings piercing through the other’s skin in places like his bottom lip and eyebrow. He couldn’t help but stop to think about what torture this man had to endure earlier on in his life for someone to stab metal into his face. He wondered if this was what Lotor meant when he referred to the outside world being cruel. Or maybe the other was referring to things like the blade currently being held against his throat.

“You’re a pretty one aren’t you?” the blond ringleader suddenly remarked. “Tell you what. I’ll just take this bag off of your hands and my boys can have some fun with you.”

Akira didn’t quite understand what he meant, but the resulting grins and chuckles from the others caused more panic within him. Whatever they wanted from him was definitely not something good and his gut was telling him to leave as fast as possible. His brain was telling him to make them stop.

When the ringleader moved to grab his bag, his mind threw him back easily. He heard a grunt of pain when the thug hit the other brick wall.

“You shit,” Akira heard the other spit, angrily. “You’ll pay for that.”

The blond swung his knife forward, but Akira froze his arm in place before he could reach him.

“The fuck?” the leader gaped, any trace of anger replaced with shock as he strained himself to move the knife closer. Akira used that opportunity to shove him back against the other wall again.

One of the other thugs cussed, suddenly rushing forward, fist pulled back to punch him. Akira twisted his arm with the slightest tilt of his head, too afraid to let go of the bag in his death grip to try to fight the other physically. The crack of bones echoed through the alleyway.

“The fucker broke my arm!” he heard the thug say between screams of pain before his friends rushed to the crying man. Akira could hear the faintest, ‘he didn’t even touch you,’ slowly moving away from the scene after realizing all he had done.

“Grab the little shit,” the leader growled. “And kill him.”

Before they could move an inch, the light that once illuminated the alley burst, shattering glass and engulfing everyone in darkness once more. Akira ran, ignoring the angry screams and threats that sounded from the men in the alleyway. Their vows of finding him and killing him echoed in his head. He tried to ignore the sounds of footsteps behind him, getting closer.

Suddenly someone grabbed him and pulled him into another alleyway. He feared the worst ready to fight if he had to before whoever grabbed him spoke.

“Akira?” It was female, tone gentle.

He felt his racing heart stop at the sound of his name. How did this person know his name? Was she someone from the lab? That wasn’t right. Nobody but Lotor called him by that name there. No one would know to call him anything but the numbers on his forearm.

“How do you...” he trailed off, but the other appeared to have realized what he was going to say, sighing in relief.

“I finally found you,” the girl looked like she had smiled, though it was still too dark to really tell. “You don’t know how many people I’ve accidentally harassed before this.”

Why had she been looking for him?

“Sorry, if I scared you too,” she sighed. “The name’s Ezor. Sound familiar?”

Akira kept quiet, still wary. He remembered her name, but knew that he couldn't just trust anyone who had just grabbed him out of the blue. That list could’ve been people he should avoid. But if that were the case, then why did Lotor highlight this specific location? He wished the other had gotten into the habit of labelling things.

“Well, then,” Ezor cleared her throat, walking out of the alley casually. “I’m going to take you to where you’ll be staying escapee...So follow me.”

“Where I’ll be staying?” Akira asked hesitantly, walking behind the other, keeping a safe enough distance between them. He couldn’t risk anything.

“That’s right,” Ezor hummed. She slowed down her pace when she noticed how far away he was from her.

“No need to be nervous,” Ezor insisted. “I’m only here to help.”

Akira could barely see her right now. He couldn’t afford to let his guard down. “Help?”

“I was sent to look for you,” she explained, but that only made things worse.

From the lab? Was she here to bring him back?

He felt his body stiffen, mouth clamped shut. Suddenly, he felt like he could feel every tremor on the pavement and hear every drip from a leaking drain, echoing through the jungle of buildings.

“From Lotor,” Ezor seemed to deduce what was gnawing at him amidst his silence.

Akira was unsure of what to say or do after hearing the name. Ezor took the opportunity to speak a bit more to add to her response.

“You’ll meet the girls too.They can’t wait to finally see you after how much Lo-”

“He couldn’t have gotten far,” a low voice hissed from nearby causing the two to freeze in place.

“Just find him and make sure he pays for messing with us,” another growled. The two heavy footsteps were drawing closer. “The bag probably had something good if he was so pissy about it.”

“Shit,” Ezor muttered, putting an arm in front of Akira protectively.

“The brat is dead once we find him.”

At those words, the ravenette felt sick to his stomach. Ezor sensing this, suddenly grabbed his wrist which grounded him.

“Looks like you ran into some trouble on the way here. Quickly,” she said in a lower voice, tugging on his wrist to lead him away from the voices drawing closer.

The taller girl lead him through dark alleyways, climbing over metal fences and dumpsters before leading him through what felt like another giant maze. Even if he didn’t exactly know who she was or what her exact motives were, he felt a bit of comfort in having someone to guide him through the darkness. Finally they climbed up a rattling fire escape, slipping into a newspapered window after Ezor checked to see if anyone had followed.

Akira found himself in what appeared to be a loft, waiting for Ezor to close and lock the window. He gripped the bag strap tightly, prepared to fight if he deemed necessary.

Since the place was well-light he could finally see what Ezor looked like, instead of the wispy silhouette he could barely make out in the dark. He was taken a bit back at how much colourful she was, dreadly used to the monochromatic shades of black and white.

Ezor had tan skin and sky coloured eyes that seemingly carried a mischievous glint which did nothing to put Akira less on edge. She had long hair tied up in a high ponytail reaching a bit past her hips which was a light blonde colour that faded from violets to pinks to blues and even to a bright yellow. Akira found it fascinating watching the colours meld and change from one to another.

Ezor flipped her hair almost knowingly with a grin. “Fabulous, isn’t it?”

“Whoa! Aren’t you a beauty,” she gasped, walking closer.

He snapped out of his thoughts, taking a small step back. Before he could do anything else, Akira was being lifted into the air by a pair of strong arms. Despite the shock, he didn’t sense change in the atmosphere, meaning he didn’t use his powers, feeling a bit dizzy if anything.

The arms holding him however did not crush or hurt him which confused Akira, but did not scare him.

“Is this him?” a voice questioned. “He’s a lot lighter than I expected. Better not be a weakling.”

“Put him down Zethrid,” Ezor frowned. “That isn’t a very welcoming welcome, you know. You can bench press him later.”

“This is how I say hi to everyone,” Zethrid scoffed, but still placed Akira back on to his wobbly feet.

He turned to face yet another tall woman with a strong build. Her stance seemed proud and the spark in her amber eyes seemed to indicate that she was a force to reckon with and she knew it. Her skin was dark which contrasted with her curly violet hair which appeared to be fading a bit. Her dark violet muscle tank implied that she was training before they had arrived, showcasing the arms that had plucked him off the ground like it was nothing. Akira couldn’t help but feel a mix of intimidation and respect for her. Mostly intimidation.

“He feels like ice. How long has he been out there?” Zethrid frowned, crossing her arms as she glared at the other girl almost accusingly.

“No clue,” Ezor shrugged. “I think he ran into Raptor and his gang before I got to him.”

“Raptor already? Damn,” Zethrid actually looked impressed. “Don’t worry, I’ll crush them later.”

“Thanks, Zeth,” Ezor grinned. “Get something to warm him up please.”

The other replied with a hum.

“Should I tell Acxa you’ve finally found him?” Zethrid asked as she began to walk away. “You know she’s been spamming your phone all night.”

“The damn thing died,” Ezor grumbled, before nodding. “Get her over here. We have a lot of explaining to do.”

Akira watched the other leave before Ezor motioned for him to follow her.

“Everything is going to be ok,” Ezor insisted. “I’m not going to bite.”

Akira followed slowly, finding himself too tired to really argue. She didn’t seem to want to hurt him either. So far that is.

She lead him down the stairs to the first floor of the loft where there appeared to be a lounge like area with worn down couches and a seemingly damaged multicoloured rug. A large, old wooden chest was used as a makeshift coffee table. Looking around the large space, Akira wondered if the building was supposed to be abandoned like most of the other buildings seemingly were in the area.

She jumped onto one of the couches with practised ease. “Try to relax a bit. You’re way too tense.”

Akira stood quietly for the time being, not really wanting to dirty the furniture. After all he had been running in dirt for so long, cuts and bruises littering his legs. Instead he took time to take in all his surroundings, never really relaxing all that much despite the others wishes. There was more furniture and decor than he was used to and he couldn't help but feel fascinated.

Posters and newspaper clippings were taped to the walls, but before he could walk closer to them, warmth he didn’t even realize he needed encased him in the form of a large, heavy coat.

“That should do the trick,” Zethrid plopped onto the couch next to Ezor.

Another girl sat down as well, presumably Acxa. Her pale fingers tapped on the couch arm as she waited. She, like the other girls was taller than Akira, and had blue violet hair tied into a messy bun, black hair clips holding back her fringe. Akira came to the conclusion that they all just really liked interestingly coloured hair.

“Ok. First things first,” Ezor clapped her hands excitedly. “Ezor. Zethrid. Acxa. Remember those names because you’ll be stuck with us for a while.”

Akira wondered how he could forget them. They were very interesting sounding names after all. He studied each of them for several seconds, still sensing no menace or malice in their eyes. They all seemed just as curious as he was. Still wary, Akira kept quiet.

“I know this is all a bit strange. You don’t know who we are, but we’re friends of Lotor,” Ezor explained.

It all started to make a bit more sense with why he was given the address and the list of people from earlier having all their names.

“He had many favours to cache in when he planned this out. And when we heard all about you, we couldn’t really refuse,” Ezor continued. “So you’ll be living with us. Right here and now.”

Akira blinked in utter confusion. Obviously finding shelter was one of the problems he knew would eventually have to face, but this wasn’t an offer of security. It was almost a command. However, that wasn’t the only thing that irked him. If he stayed there, it meant endangering all three of their lives.

“I’ll be staying here?” Akira asked uneasy.

“Yes. Under our watch and protection,” Acxa confirmed.

“I don’t need protection,” Akira frowned, not liking the situation at all.

He could do this himself. Then he wouldn’t be putting other’s lives on the line. He’ll figure it out. He has to.

“Hate to break it to you kid,” Zethrid spoke up. “But you’re in the real world now. And the real world is gonna eat you alive.”

“It’s what Lotor wants,” Acxa added. “So I need you to stay where you’ll be safe.”

Akira noted the softness in her tone, but still shook his head.

“But if they find me—if they come here, you’ll all…” Akira didn’t want to finish, swallowing back the last word.

_Die_. The lab would surely kill them. They knew too much about him.

“I know what we’re risking here,” Acxa said. “But I’m willing to do anything for a friend.”

_Stop. You don’t mean it. You shouldn’t._

Did they all truly understand? Didn’t they realize that this was more than just a favour for a friend? Were they all truly willing to die for something as trivial as him? He couldn’t stand it.

“Besides, if they come,” Zethrid cracked her knuckles with a grin. “I’ll pummel them before they get the chance.”

_Stop. Stop. Stop._

“We all know what we’re getting into,” Ezor continued. “And no matter what I’ll-”

“Stop it.” Akira fell to his knees suddenly, feeling his legs give in, pulling the coat closer around his body. He spoke again quietly, eyes cast down on the concrete floor. “I...I don’t want people to die.”

_Not again._

After a few moments of silence, Ezor spoke again, voice gentle.

“Look kid,” she sent him a genuine smile. “This whole thing is stressing you out too much. No one is going to die. Why? Because Lotor trusts us and in turn we trust him. Do you trust him?”

“Trust,” Akira repeated, voice barely above a whisper. He felt like too much of his energy had been wasted. “Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.”

“That’s right,” Ezor nodded in amusement.

“...I do.”

“That’s good,” the blue eyed girl said. “So you should know that he thought all this out carefully. He cares about you and would only talk about you with people he trusts the most. And that’s us.”

Akira bit the inside of his cheek already anticipating what the other was going to say next.

“Do you think you can trust him on this one and stay?” Ezor asked.

Akira didn’t know if he could exactly do that. His uncertainty didn’t go unnoticed, but fortunately the other three didn’t want to pressure him. He did know that he trusted his friend. He did. And because of that, he’d try his best to stay there even though he was still so scared. He nodded his head slightly, noting how the movement shook his vision unnaturally.

“Ok, good,” Ezor sighed in relief. “I have a feeling you’ll like it here.”

“Now step one to a normal life,” she patted her thighs to imitate a drum roll.

“Is to have a different name,” Acxa finished. “You can’t keep using that name if that lab is gonna be looking for you.”

Once again, another problem he never really thought about before he was running out of the place. He presumed that even though they didn’t address him by it, they’d be smart enough to first check if any Akira’s were around the area.

“Can you show us your bag?” Acxa asked. “There should be some documents that we had to forge a while back in there.”

Akira, hesitantly took off the shoulder bag and handed it to the dark blue eyed girl. He had to remind himself to try. She opened it and pulled out a few papers before handing the bag back to him. He slung it back over his shoulder, subconsciously holding onto the strap.

“Keith Kogane,” Acxa read aloud.

1023\. Akira. Now Keith. His name was always changing.

“I like it,” Ezor beamed.

“Not bad, squirt,” Zethrid added.

He vaguely remembered liking the name Keith and couldn’t help but smile a bit at the memory.

“Next up,” Acxa exclaimed. “We have to deal with the whole clothing situation.”

“Yes!” Ezor exclaimed. “What do you know about clothing?”

Akira—no, _Keith_ blinked. He knew that people wore an assortment of different clothing, but the only attire he’s ever had were multiple arrangements of grey.

“Ok, that explains why you almost died of hyperthermia,” Ezor sighed. “You have so much to learn, but I will gladly introduce you to the world that is-”

“Step three to a normal life, especially since you’re—how old are you?” Acxa interrupted, clearly not interested in whatever Ezor had left to say. The tanned girl glared at her, frown evident on her lips.

“Fifteen,” Keith replied.  
  
“Oh boy! You’re gonna have to go to high school,” Zethrid finished with a chuckle.

“High school?” Keith bit his lip.

He has a little bit of knowledge from books he’s read, but that’s about it. The thought about him going there was no doubt a bit jarring. He decided to blame his worry on why he felt a bit light headed suddenly.

“I don’t doubt Lotor’s teachings or whatever,” Zethrid continued. “He’s a smart guy—“

“He’s a genius,” Acxa interrupted, pushing a few strands of blue hair behind her ear.

“But even though I’d hate to admit it, high school will teach you a thing or two,” Zethrid ran a hand through her messy hair. “Like social skills or something.”

“Correct,” Acxa clicked her tongue.

When Keith didn’t seem to understand, Zethrid elaborated.

“How many nice interactions have you had with another human being as of today?”

When only silence followed, Zethrid took that as solid proof.

Keith felt a sudden chill run through his spine, pulling the coat around him closer for a warmth that barely met his frozen body. That was odd. He was feeling fine before. Or sort of. He stood up from the floor, attempting to steady himself.

Acxa got up from the couch, already heading out of the room. “I’m gonna tell Lotor that he made it here in one piece. Freezing, but in one piece. I’m pretty sure he’ll go through Marie Antoinette Syndrome with how stressed out he is.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ezor shooed her away.

With the other gone, she turned on the couch and sprawled her long legs across Zethrid’s lap who roughly shoved her off. “Get off your ass, Ezor. It’s your turn to do the dishes.”

Keith could’ve sworn he heard the last few words echo in his ear. He felt himself lurch forward, but caught himself.

“Language!” Ezor stuck out her tongue, begrudgingly standing up.

“Language?” Zethrid laughed. “Like you’re one to talk.”

“You wanna go?”

“I can snap you in two, noodle.”

“Excuse me-”

The two began to bicker and Keith tried to focus on what they were saying. But it was getting increasingly harder when their voices became muddled. His eyelids grew so heavy, his vision beginning to fade in and out. He was suddenly engulfed in so much warmth and all he wanted to do was welcome it and sleep. He could sleep forever.

He felt himself falling and somebody yelling before he blacked out.

— x — x — x — x —

Keith woke up in an unfamiliar room before everything that had happened came back to him. He was on a couch in the loft. He had the coat and a blanket draped over him.

Keith made a move to grab the bag that he suddenly realized wasn’t slung around his shoulder anymore. He felt himself mentally freak out for a few seconds, subconsciously levitating the couch he sat on through panic.

“Hey, squirt. You up ye—Whoa! What the fuck?!” Zethrid gaped from nearby.

“Put the things down, silly,” Ezor exclaimed. “You’re at home. No need to be afraid.”

Realizing what he was doing, Keith lowered the couch gently and safely back onto the ground.

“That was incredible,” Acxa muttered from beside Zethrid, before shaking her head. “But you can’t do that again. In this world, no one can do what you can and if you truly want to make sure that you fit in with the rest of the world and that laboratory doesn’t find you and take you back, you have to make-”

“Acxa,” Ezor coughed, effectively silencing the other.

“What she’s trying to say is that in order to protect you, you have to seem like an average teenager,” Ezor explained. “If you control that telekinesis, it’ll make hiding your identity a whole lot easier.”

Keith looked down at the floor. Didn’t they think he’s been trying all these years to get a hold of these powers? If he knew how to control it perfectly then the couch wouldn’t have floated in the first place.

“Sorry,” Keith finally said. “I’ll try not to use it anymore.”

He stood up from the couch, regaining some balance.

“Now you go and shower,” Ezor clapped, ponytail swinging as she turned. “And Zethy here will cook us up a nice breakfast.”

“Excuse me, no I’m not,” Zethrid crossed her arms, unimpressed.

“ _I_ did the dishes yesterday, so _you_ make food,” Ezor scoffed.

“I can barely cook. Acxa can do it,” Zethrid motioned to the other girl who only raised an eyebrow in amusement.

“You know she measures everything to the tee!” Ezor complained. “I want breakfast _today_ , not in a million years!”

Keith couldn’t help but watch the argument unfold. He’d seen people fight before, but the scene before him didn’t seem all that angry even if the two exaggerated their tone.

“Second door in that hallway,” Acxa suddenly said to him. “They’re gonna be at it for a while.”

Keith said a short thanks before following the dark haired girl’s directions. Back in the lab he was always decontaminated or nearly drowned in water for “baths.” He shivered at the haunting memory, opening the second door to the supposed bathroom.

He looked around curiously, walking over to the sink, surprised to find a change of clothes. There were even cat slippers placed on top of the neatly folded clothing. He could feel the small smile form on his face at the sight.

Keith walked over, seeing something in the corner of his eye before jumping. What he saw almost made him stop breathing. _A mirror_.

Up until this moment, Keith never really knew what he looked like. He stepped closer to the mirror, watching his reflection move with him. He stared into indigo eyes that almost appeared to change from blue to purple from different angles. He couldn’t but think they looked like the other girls’ extravagant hair colours. He blinked and let out a small laugh at the thought of what was happening. He smiled almost ridiculously, taking note of how messy his hair looked, blowing his black bangs feebishly out of his face only for them to fall back into place.

That was him. He knew what he looked like and that thought made him so unbelievably happy.

After the shock and excitement faded, Keith managed to take a shower. He struggled to figure out how it worked and wondered if everyone in the loft heard him shriek as he was blasted by freezing water, bottles of shampoo and soap flying into the air before scattering all over the shower floor.

After drying off, he changed into the fresh clothes, finding it interesting how big the clothes were on him. The black t-shirt sat loosely on his form and the grey sweatpants with a company name stitched to one side pooled on the floor as the original owner clearly had much longer legs.

He noticed that people could definitely see the numbers written on his forearm if they were close enough and after some hesitation reminded himself that the other three already knew what they meant, considering his background.

He carefully wore the slippers, relishing in how weird it was. He always saw Lotor wearing shoes, so the thought of them wasn’t foreign, but the feeling at the bottom of his feet definitely was.

He placed his dirty clothes in what appeared to be the hampar, contemplating burning them to hide evidence before taking a deep breath and shaking his head. He stepped out, returning to the living room, the smell of burnt food filling the air.

“As you can see, Zethrid making breakfast didn’t exactly go well,” Acxa sighed, motioning to the plate of burnt food. “So Ezor ran out and got us some stuff from a nearby café.”

“In my defense, I tried to get out of cooking,” Zethrid grumbled, sipping a drink.

“Shut up, I thought you would’ve improved by now,” Ezor rolled her eyes with a pout. “After all, we have a son now.”

“Says the girl eating a doughnut for breakfast,” Zethrid pointed out. “What kind of role model mother is that?”

“Excuse you, I’m the one who ran out to get edible food when your stupid ass burned everything,” Ezor shot back, munching on her doughnut.

“Says the stupid ass not eating real food,” Zethrid mumbled. “And don’t make me punch in your face right now, cause I will.”

“Doughnuts are real food!” Ezor gasped in offense.

“Nope, that stuff is just straight up sugar, sugar and more sugar,” Zethrid interjected. “It’s killing you faster than I can.”

Ezor huffed, biting the last bits of her doughnut messily in front of the other girl in spite.

“She bought you a bagel,” Acxa suddenly handed a brown bag to Keith. “They’re gonna be at it for a while again. You’ll get used to it...eventually.”

“Thank you.”

He opened the bag in curiosity. Back in the lab, he was only ever given a few different foods. The most common was this strange green mush or goo that the people there insisted on having enough protein and nutrients for him to grow stronger. However, whenever he consumed even a bit of it, he felt incredibly tired and sometimes nauseous.

Inside the bag wasn’t coloured brightly or extravagantly. It was in the shape of a circle and after Keith took a tentative bite, he realized that he actually really liked it. The taste and texture wasn’t off like the green mush and he didn’t feel empty after finishing it.

“Whatever, Zethrid,” Ezor flipped her multi coloured ponytail in the other’s face. “Not everyone needs to be a total health junkie like you.”

Keith couldn’t help but note that this banter was still going on and that Acxa was indeed right. Zethrid however just seemed to shrug as if whatever Ezor called her was sort of a compliment.

“I’m going to do my morning exercise,” Zethrid stretched a bit, before turning to Keith. “Why don’t you join me, kid?”

“Oh, um...ok.”

“What, no!” Ezor cried. “Give me back my son!”

“Too late,” Zethrid shouted.

The taller girl brought him to another area of the loft where there was a weight rack. He stared at it in slight confusion until Zethrid picked up one from the middle, testing the weight before doing a few arm exercises. Keith watched her in amazement.

“Not heavy enough,” she frowned in disappointment, placing the black weight back before grabbing a larger one.

As she continued to work, eventually grabbing another one for her other arm, Keith grabbed one near the top, marveling in the weight in his hand. He placed it back carefully, hearing the other step beside him.

“You’ve ever lifted weights before?” She asked, continuing to workout as they spoke.

“Not exactly like this,” Keith replied, vaguely. If she counted having to lift a huge concrete slab from crushing him with his mind as lifting weights, then sure.

“Are...are you doing alright?” Zethrid asked next. It was evident that she wasn’t used to conversations like this, but Keith appreciated the effort.

“I’m...ok I guess,” he shrugged a bit. “I escaped to be free, but I’ve still barely seen what it’s like outside yet.”

“Hm, outside?” Zethrid smirked. “You’re impatient, huh? Don’t worry, so am I.”

“Do you like it?” Keith asked, curiously. “Outside?”

There was a moment of silence as the violet haired girl thought of her response.

“The world can either give you happiness or leave you broken,” Zethrid frowned. “And if you’re me, it left you broken and gave you happiness in who you found on the same road.”

Keith noticed her amber eyes move in the direction of the other two girls. It was safe to say that they all struggled before ending up together. He felt much more respect for them and realized that they all probably made a lot of sacrifices he may never learn in their lives. He could tell they were all good hearted people. And that thought probably scared him more than anything.

“Your hands,” Keith muttered concerned.

“Hm?”

“They’re injured,” he pointed out.

“They’re just a few scrapes, squirt. Nothing to fuss over,” Zethrid brushed it off.

“But they weren’t there yesterday,” Keith remarked, staring at the cuts left from flesh ripping open. “What happened?”

“Took care of that gang from yesterday,” Zethrid replied. “Should keep them off our turf for now.”

“...you didn’t have to,” Keith frowned. “It was all my fault they were even here. You shouldn’t have fought them when you’d end up like this.”

“Look, when I vowed to protect you, I meant it,” Zethrid explained. “I don’t know. There’s something about you and maybe it’s all of Ezor’s mother talk getting to my head, but I...I don’t know. I’m willing to punch anyone who gets in our way.”

Before Keith could argue further, Zethrid cut him off, “Besides, Raptor had it coming for weeks anyway. He’s been sniffing around the place for too long and I don’t like it.”

Keith suddenly felt the respect he felt the night before. She held an air to her. Something that screamed that if you touched something important to her she’d take you to hell and back. It was an aura that seemed to draw Keith in. She was strong, not just physically, but from the mind as well.

“You try,” she suddenly passed him the weight in her hand before he could say anything and he yelped as it immediately pulled him to the ground with it.

“Sorry about that,” Zethrid knelt down, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

“It’s alright,” Keith breathed, attempting to pick up and hand the weight back to her, but failing quite miserably to do so.

“How much can you lift?” Zethrid asked and Keith wondered if she was mocking him.

“Apparently, not that much,” Keith muttered and the violet haired girl let out a hearty chuckle.

“Don’t worry too much about that squirt,” she grinned. “And that’s not what I meant.”

Keith tilted his head in confusion.

“You know. How much can you lift with your mind magic?” Zethrid explained.

“But you guys said that I shouldn’t…” Keith focused on the ground.

“ _I_ never said anything,” Zethrid pointed out. “Besides, what’s the harm in talking about it?”

He knew it was supposed to be a harmless, curious question, but he couldn’t help the painful and haunting memories of the laboratory that played through his mind like a constant nightmare on replay. All the things they did to him to answer that same very question. _No. Focus. You’re not there anymore_.

“Aren’t you...scared?” he asked.

“Scared? Kid, what you can do is awesome,” Zethrid smiled. “More than awesome. Undefeatable awesome and if I had a bigger word in my vocabulary for that, I would use it.”

“Indomitable?” Keith offered.

“Yeah, whatever that is,” Zethrid snorted. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“But—”

“Lips are sealed, squirt,” Zethrid put her index finger to her lips to prove her point. “I’ll keep it a secret between you and me.”

Keith sighed, biting the inside of his cheek. After everything they had done for him thus far, the least he could do was appease her curiosity he supposed.

He focused on the weight lying on the ground that he had struggled to pick up earlier, levitating it in the air with ease. He smiled a bit at the other’s marveled expression. He moved the weight higher up into the air before moving all the remaining weights on the weight rack and even the one in Zethrid’s other hand to join it. Just like what he used to do with his books, he made the weights move beside one another in circles and patterns before he placed all the weights back to their rightful places.

“That was amazing!” Zethrid breathed a laugh in awe and disbelief.

She ruffled Keith’s hair, a gesture that surprised him but was not unwelcome. He sensed fondness and no malicious intent from the action. He touched the top of his head, pondering for a few more seconds before the other spoke again.

“You’re really powerful for a squirt,” Zethrid grinned, proudly.

_Powerful_. His small smile fell a bit at the word. He knew he was powerful. After all that was what he had been forced to achieve his whole life. He was made to be powerful, but at what price? Every second he was out of the lab, the more he realized he had ultimately lost having been trapped there for so long.

“You alright?” Zethrid asked, concerned. “Did I...are you...Fuck, I’m not really good at this.”

“No, it’s fine,” Keith shook his head. “I was just remembering some things I’d rather forget.”

Zethrid mumbled something about not being suitable for comforting people and something else unintelligible.

“I like you kid,” she finally said before cracking her knuckles. “So you know if anyone hurts you, I’ll smash their faces in. Free of charge.”

Keith noted that violence was one of the ways Zethrid showed affection and was shocked to find the violent words comfort him coming from her.

“Alright then, my morning routine is done for the day, so let me show you around the place. You kind of passed out before we could yesterday,” Zethrid exclaimed. “If you’re gonna be living here, a tour would be nice.”

She stood up, pulling Keith up with ease. The taller woman showed him around, taking him to the kitchen and opening the cupboards and the worn looking fridge decorated in magnets and reminders. The violet haired girl showed him foods he’d known the name of, but never seen before, visibly amused by his excitement over all of them.

She then took him to all of their individual rooms. “This is Ezor’s.”

Keith peered inside, noting how decorated the other’s room was. “Colourful.”

The lean girl had messily painted the walls in different colours that were divided by shapes. She had a stylish vanity with an assortment of jewellery laying out in a semi-display. On her bed were a few brightly coloured throw pillows arranged haphazardly.

“Yeah. She spent a lot of time decorating the place, but she hardly ever stays in here,” Zethrid sighed. “She’s always up and about and going into everyone else’s bedrooms.”

She moved a door down, knocking roughly before getting a mutter of approval. Zethrid pushed the door open with more force than needed in Keith’s opinion. “Acxa’s space.”

Unlike Ezor’s multicoloured room, Acxa’s was much more calm, a neutral dark blue. Acxa was typing on what appeared to be a makeshift computer, wires exposed and making a pattern across the floor to a corner. Her hair looked much messier than it had earlier and she now wore thick black glasses, staring at the screen intently.

His eyes landed on a bookshelf in another section of the small room, filled with countless of books.

He couldn’t help but walk over and run a hand on a row, all arranged neatly. “There are so many.”

“You can borrow them whenever you’d like,” Acxa offered, no longer looking at the computer, but turned to give him a small smile. “There are a few I think you might like.”

“I’d like that,” he said, looking at the selection in fascination.

Zethrid made a disgusted face. “Ok nerds. Squirt, let’s go to my room now.”

Keith continued to smile in amusement as he followed the amber eyed girl once again, to the next door that was in a crook of the hallway.

“Here’s the coolest room you’ll ever see,” Zethrid declared, proudly.

Her room had violet walls that were mostly covered in posters of people and things Keith clearly did not recognize. A large exercise ball was in the corner of the room as well as a smaller but similar weight rack from before. There was notable trash, food wrappers and paper cups that still needed to be thrown out and a few stray socks and clothes, but Zethrid still seemed to be incredibly proud of it, so he didn’t comment on it.

“And now, finally,” Zethrid lead him to a door at the end of the hallway. “Your room.”

She opened the door and he entered a small looking room. It was plain and there appeared to be a bed that wasn’t used often or maybe at all. There was a nightstand that had a few books already laid on top and an old, worn looking lamp. Lotor’s shoulder bag was placed neatly on a wooden chair placed against one of the white walls. Despite it being so simple to anyone else’s eyes, he couldn’t help but love it.

He patted the bed, breathing a laugh. “It’s soft.”

He moved to the lamp, turning it on and off in amazement. His attention kept switching between the few different objects placed in the room and he finally stopped when he felt the other stand next to him.

“I’m sorry it’s not the best,” she said with a sigh. “We used to use it for some storage and we cleaned it out as fast as we could.”

“No, I love it,” Keith shook his head. “It’s perfect.”

Zethrid sent him a sad, acknowledging smile that he pretended not to notice. There were years of his life and experiences he’d never get back. And there was nothing, not even with their kindness and generosity the three could do to reverse that. And he knew that they knew. But instead of dwelling on it too much, he was going to move forward.

Later that night, they had an eventful dinner where the others attempted to cook packaged Chinese food. Key word was attempted. Keith ended up having to translate everything before they realized they were doing it all wrong. It was lively, and in all honesty, Keith could get used to lively. It was a lot less lonely compared to before and he’d rather hear mindless banter over nothing.

That night, Keith had the pleasure of turning off the lamp, still satisfied with the faintest click sound it made. He slipped into his new bed, smiling at the warmth and comfort his former one never offered. Cocooning himself into a heap of blankets, he closed his eyes, burying himself into the pillow. For once he didn’t feel scared to close his eyes and let sleep reach him.

He dreamed of a glimmering ocean and a warm laugh that echoed with the constant waves.

— x — x — x — x —

A few days passed which was spent teaching him a few basic life skills and necessities, cleaning up the place and getting to know the others. He learned that the each had a different part time job with changing shifts and days and was understanding when they were too tired to function. 

He read and gushed about science books with Acxa, discussing theories and facts they found interesting. The two spent nearly half the day holed up in Acxa’s room just reading before they were dragged out.

He helped Zethrid workout by passing her weights telekinetically when no one was looking and in return she tested his reflexes by asking him to dodge some of her attacks. Although at the time it sort of felt terrifying as her punches could probably pulverize him, he found the adrenaline rush kind of nice. He’d also watch and keep track of all of Zethrid, Ezor, and Acxa’s occasional sparring matches. The three were truly amazing.

Finally, he was quite literally dragged to Ezor’s room where she’d just style his hair and chat about anything that came to mind. She claimed that he was too unfairly pretty, so she just had to braid his dark hair which he didn’t quite understand yet. It was really nice just talking about random things and reminded him of the times he used to play with Lotor’s hair. In amusement, he made Ezor’s long, multi-coloured hair float into the air before he braided it into an intricate bun. The other’s confusion had quickly turned into adoration.

She nearly squeezed the life out of him when she squealed and held him in a bone crushing hug. She said she let the telekinesis slide because she was lenient, but Keith had the feeling she just loved her new hairstyle too much.

One of those days further in the week, Acxa had called everyone to the living room area for something incredibly important.

“Keith will be going to school soon,” Acxa exclaimed, adjusting the glasses she decided to wear for the day.

“Yes!” Ezor screamed excitedly as Zethrid whooped.

“First things first, Zeth’s clothes definitely do not fit him,” Acxa pointed out.

Keith looked down at the oversized clothing he was wearing. He didn’t feel all too different. After all, he was used to wearing loose fitting clothes, but then again he was still new to all this, so he trusted the people who had been out with society longer than him and their judgement.

“True that,” Ezor sighed. “I’ll go check to see if there’s anything else he can wear.”

“Me too,” Acxa hummed. She followed the much more energetic girl who pretty much cartwheeled out of the room out of excitement.

Keith really wasn’t used to people being so generous yet. For anyone else, this may have seemed small, but to him the simplicity of people trying to find something like clothing for him was a bit too much. Accepting help was usually something he wouldn’t like, but right now he was a bit too stunned by everyone’s willingness to help to argue.

“Here you go,” Zethrid suddenly handed Keith a pile of notebooks and stationary.

“What’s this for?” he asked.

“We bought you a bunch of school supplies already,” Zethrid explained. “You’re lucky Acxa was the one who picked out most of it. Ezor would’ve given you stuff that only nine year olds like.”

Even knowing her for just a week, he didn’t doubt that. Ezor had an air of confidence that Keith admired and wished he had. She always did things with an aura that showcased her confidence in her capabilities and she definitely knew it.

He stared at the notebooks and binders, mind wandering back to school. The place that made his stomach knot a bit.

“Is it scary?” Keith asks after a moment of silence. “School that is.”

“Listen, squirt,” Zethrid ruffled his hair. “If you keep your head up high and show those teens who’s boss, you’re not gonna bat a single eyelash at the place.”

Once again, the confidence that Ezor always had was something Keith could only dream of having for something like school. He partially wondered if he was going to survive.

“Alright,” Keith said, though his nervousness didn’t seem to go away.

He felt torn between excitement of finally being out there with other human beings and fear that he would be so evidently obvious that he didn’t belong there.

“You guys bought all this. It’s so much,” Keith ran a hand on one of the notebooks, trying to distract himself. “Thank you.”

“Well, most of it,” Zethrid mumbled, ruffling his hair again.

Before he could ask what she meant, a loud voice echoed through the loft.

“Hey guys! We found some stuff!” Ezor shouted, coming back with a pile of clothing in her arms.

“Ok we did some digging and we found,” Ezor placed the bunch of clothes in front of them, “some stuff that may or may not fit.”

“Why is almost everything black?” Zethrid raised an eyebrow, questioningly.

“Well most of it was from Acxa’s closet,” Ezor explained. “And you know, solid colours was like a phase she went through. Which was boring, but whatever.”

“It’s the best we’ve got for now,” Acxa added, jabbing the other girl with her elbow. “Ezor literally has nothing Keith could wear.”

“I still think he’d look amazing in my-”

“We are not going through this again,” Acxa cut her off quickly. “Keith’s not going to be wearing anything indecent. I don’t want people staring at him in any provocative manner.”

“Simple solution. I’ll gauge their eyes out,” Zethrid remarked. “Can’t see him provocatively if they can’t see him period.”

Keith raised an eyebrow in a mix of confusion and curiosity. He wondered what they were arguing about.

“I’m fine with the black clothes,” Keith said, deciding to interrupt their squabble. “I’m used to only wearing one colour anyway...and I’m a bit more comfortable with that for now.”

The three exchanged a look of mutual agreement, dropping whatever they were discussing for the time being.

“Okay. Go try these on then,” Acxa instructed with a small smile. “In the bathroom, of course.”

“Second door in that hallway,” Keith repeated to himself as he picked up the articles of clothing.

Once he changed, he walked out for the others to see. The black jeans fit much better than the sweat pants did, but were still a bit long and loose on him. The shirt was still a bit loose, but was a much more comfortable fit. He also had an oversized black hoodie, the sleeves covering the majority of his hands. He subconsciously placed his hand against where the numbers were on his forearm, reminding himself full well that no one had x-ray vision and could see the numbers underneath his clothes. Although there wasn’t much colour to the ensemble, he liked it.

“Yes!” Ezor cheered. “But it’s missing a few touches.”

She leaped up from the spot she was sitting in, throwing a hair tie that Keith barely managed to catch if not for his quick reflexes.

“To style that hair, kiddo,” she winked with a joyous smile. “You can wear it on your wrist until you need to use it.”

Zethrid clicked her tongue tossing him two things that he found to be black fingerless gloves.

“Fingerless gloves?” Acxa questioned.

“Just to show those boys and girls he’s a squirt, but not a petunia,” Zethrid crossed her arms proudly.

After a few seconds, Keith managed to figure out how to put the gloves on, bending his fingers to get used to the foreign feeling.

“Up next,” Ezor drummed the makeshift coffee table for effect.

“I’ve been working on it for a while,” Acxa pulled out an interesting looking device. “It’s a phone. It has all our contacts already saved in and I made sure to make it hard for people outside of connections with you to trace it. Hard, but not impossible.”

“I’m not the strongest in technology, so I’m sorry if I couldn't do a bit more,”she finished, handing him the phone.

He stared at it curiously. It was nothing incredibly fancy like the one he’d seen Lotor pull out occasionally. Once he figured how to turn it on, he could see that there were the several numbers that Acxa had saved. He decided that he’d test it out later and figure out all the phone’s many functions late at night or once he had the time.

“And finally,” Ezor went to grab something, running back and tossing him a black backpack with red accents. “A backpack for all your stuff! Now you’re ready for school...Sort of.”

Keith hugged the bag and sat beside them on one of the couches, thanking them once again, earning pats on the back and another rough ruffle of the hair from Zethrid.

The three girls spent the rest of the day explaining what exactly happened at school, between periods and lockers. He practiced opening a lock which took more than a few tries and jotted notes down in one of the notebooks they had gotten him, writing about classes and how they worked.

Of course, it was much more difficult when the three girls realized Keith didn’t quite understand the concept of time yet. He’d seen Lotor’s watch before, but even still the numbers that represented minutes, hours and seconds never stuck to him for very long. He didn’t quite understand the concept of it all and when you were supposed to be up and when you were supposed to be asleep and what you truly ever did between those times. If anything, he found it odd that people let something like the annoying device ticking on a wall control them. Then again, back in the lab he never really knew the time or how many days had past. Naturally, the thought of time was something he would have to get used to as apparently it was something very important.

On the subject of time, Keith eventually went back to his room and changed into cat pyjamas Ezor was willing to give away and force him to keep. He found himself curling into bed quickly. At first he thought sleep would pull him in immediately. However, the anxious thoughts he had about school nagged at him for a while.

He couldn’t help but feel incredibly nervous. From the books he read and from what Ezor, Acxa and Zethrid explained, a lot of people went to school. He wasn’t sure yet how he’d react to such a large group of people around his age. And of course there was the problem of him having to act like he was completely normal and didn’t have a lab potentially trying to find and kidnap him because he harboured telekinesis.

To ease the stress, he made himself levitate over the bed to calm himself a bit, marveling at how it felt like forever since he had done that. He felt like flying and the feeling of freedom lifted a bit of weight off his shoulders. Eventually he grew tired, lowering himself back onto the bed, relishing in the feel of solid ground. The ravenette then finally managed to drift into a peaceful sleep.

Instead of purple gleaming lights and white hallways, he dreamed of ocean blue eyes and a radiant smile.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I wrote the first draft, Keith ended up with Shiro??? Yeah it made no sense, so I shelved that. As I was rewriting, I sat and thought about who he could stay with and then it clicked. What about the other three of Lotor’s generals? And then it was too perfect to part from!
> 
> I hope my interpretation of their personalities is ok. Tbh, I based a lot of their interactions and banter with one another on two of my friends (their bickering is honestly the most entertaining thing in the world) XD. 
> 
> Anyways, high school and Lance and the crew are actually in the next chapter...I think?...I should probably start writing it now. See you later! And I hope you’re enjoying the story so far!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Whoa, hold up,” Pidge stopped him. “Do you know the theory of cause and effect? Causality?”
> 
> Keith sat back down in confusion. 
> 
> “Basically it surrounds the idea that things that happen are connected to one another where one event is partly responsible for something else which is partly dependent in return,” she explained, bowl of fries completely forgotten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been editing and re-editing this one ever since I finished it not too long ago  
> T - T but finally I am done! I had to keep thinking of concepts of how this chapter played out because there were so many different ways this could’ve gone. 
> 
> I had the general outline of how it was going to go down, but it was very vague. I had my beginning written out and I had my ending all finished, but filling the middle of this chapter was a lot of rewriting and rethinking :/ 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! And I’ll be working on the next chapter (which has the same problem of vague outlines, but transitions that need some work).

“Phone?”

“Yes.”

“Backpack?”

“Yes.”

“Schedule?”

“Yes.”

“M-”

“For god’s sake, Acxa. He’s got everything,” Ezor whined. “Let’s go already. He can’t be late.”

“I know, I know,” Acxa sighed. “Just making sure. Remember to tell us you’re alive at lunch, alright?”

“Lunch. Got it,” Keith nodded his head.

“Ok, he’s got it already!” Ezor cried impatiently. “Let’s go, let’s go!”

With practiced ease, they all slipped carefully out the window and down the fire escape. They walked through the maze of buildings, ending up on a street that they followed until they reached a large garage of several cars, some mounted and being repaired while some others were left to the side, hoods open. Music was playing out loud and there didn’t really seem to be anyone inside.

“Rolo!” Zethrid shouted over the music. “She ready yet?”

From underneath a red car, a man slid out, an unimpressed look on his face. He got up from the board, dusting his clothes which was proven to be futile, car oil and dust clinging onto him relentlessly. The man was tall and reasonably built, the teal blue mechanic’s jumpsuit revealing forearms wrapped tightly in bandages. His messy platinum hair was covered by a red beanie, a pair of safety goggles sitting snuggly at the top of his head.

“Fixed her up. She’s over there,” Rolo nodded in a direction. “Also, stop expecting me to do shit for free. You can’t just drop off your good-as-gone truck and run away.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Ezor smirked, hands up in defense. “We’ll pay you back later.”

Her tone said otherwise.

“Your debt is growing bigger,” Rolo grumbled before adding, “She seemed a lot tougher to tune up. What did you all do to the poor thing?”

“Nothing,” Zethrid said, offended.

“Likely story,” Rolo frowned before gesturing to Keith. “Who’s the kid?”

“My cousin, Keith,” Acxa replied casually. “He’s staying with us for a while.”

“Name’s Rolo,” he said as if Keith didn’t figure that out by now. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m not going to pry on why you ended up with _these_ three of all people,” Rolo remarked. “But just a heads up, they’re poor and insane. And evade actually paying me.”

“You know you love us,” Ezor stuck her tongue out, sliding over the front of one of the cars to make her way to the side of the shop.

The energetic girl whooped as she ran to a dark blue pickup truck, with worn tires and a fine layer of dirt near the bottom half. “I call shotgun!”

“Man, I haven’t seen her in so long!” Zethrid grinned eagerly, running a hand on the paint affectionately.

“Her?” Keith asked.

“Yup. Meet your new sister,” Zethrid patted the truck. “Comet.”

He studied the vehicle, looking at the mirrors and tapping on the glass windows. He’d never studied a car up close before, yet he could still tell that Comet was a bit worn down, covered in dents and scratches and chipping paint.

“Don’t bring here back when she’s half-dead alright?” Rolo tossed the keys to Acxa who easily caught them. “I’m not a miracle worker.”

Acxa got into the driver seat, starting the engine, followed by Ezor who eagerly sat in the passenger seat with a familiar excitement.

“Ok, hop in squirt,” Zethrid opened the back car doors, gesturing inside.

Keith crawled inside cautiously, listening to the vehicle hum to life. He strapped on the seat belt, adjusting to a more comfortable position to avoid his lingering memories of powerful machines that roared to life, pinning him down. He shook his head and took a deep breath. He couldn’t think about stuff like that anymore. After all, he was trying to start over and part of that was attempting to move past all those years stuck in that lab. He was going to be a normal teenager going to a normal school with normal people. Absolutely normal.

“Thanks again, Rolo,” Acxa said after she rolled down the window.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rolo waved his hand dismissively. “Go on now. You’ll be back here with your broken truck in five minutes anyway.”

“Later counter candy!” Ezor yelled.

“Shut up, fruit roll up,” Rolo shot back already heading back to work on the red car from earlier.

Ezor honked at him in response as Acxa drove out of the garage. Keith stared out the window in awe as they moved so fast down the road. He had to admit that riding a vehicle was a bit weird and sometimes when they turned he’d slam into Zethrid who luckily didn’t seem to care.

“Loosen up a bit, Keith,” Ezor sighed. “You’re way too tense.”

_If it wasn’t that obvious._

Keith knew he was incredibly nervous for all this. A part of him wished that the car ride would just last for eternity. Another part of him was undeniably excited for this new adventure. He was actually anxious to see the building.

In attempts to calm his nerves a bit, he thought back to all the information that the three had thrown on him the day before. He was enrolled in Garrison Collegiate Institute called the Garrison by most students for short. Their school offered many fields and options, but a lot of if not most of the students there excelled in fields of sciences and mathematics. A good handful of their high school alumni ended up in a transfered program the school was partnered with for space travel and exploration.

The building was relatively large since the school was funded relatively well with an impeccable success rate of graduating students with guaranteed futures in the workplace. The whole idea of their future being planned in front of them before their own hands made Keith wonder if high school students were always this stressed.

He didn’t have anymore time to dwell on it before a modern light grey building with silver letters spelling out “ _Garrison Collegiate Institute_ ” in a neat and legible font came to view. As they drove closer and into the parking lot, Keith felt his heart beating faster at the thought of him staying there for the next six hours. At least a million questions flew through his mind as he stared at the school.

Acxa parked the car near the front of the main doors as the engine made a stuttering stop. He took a few deep breaths as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.

“If they look at you funny, you remember what I taught you, right?” Zethrid suddenly asked.

“I punch them in the face,” Keith answered with practised ease.

“No, let’s not get him expelled on the first day,” Acxa rolled her eyes. “Ignore Zeth. Just don’t pay mind to any jerks, ok?”

“Ok,” Keith nodded his head. The fact there were mean people in general was daunting.

“And most importantly...” Acxa waited for him to finish expectantly.

“No telekinesis,” he repeated for what felt like the millionth time.

“Not even a pencil,” Acxa added. “No wait—not even an eyelash.”

“Take your time,” Ezor encouraged. “Whenever you’re ready,”

“You’ve got this, squirt,” Zethrid ruffled his hair with a grin. “Show them who’s boss.”

Keith took a deep breath, opening the door, saying a goodbye and in turn earning a chorus of “good lucks” before slipping out of the car. He waved as the truck sputtered back to life and drove away, honking a few times as it disappeared from view.

Before walking through the front doors, he took a few seconds to take everything in, already seeing students through the sparkling glass. He grabbed his schedule and school map, gripping them tightly before cautiously opening the door and stepping into the building. His indigo eyes landed on heaps of students socializing and chatting with their different group of friends.

He busied himself with his schedule and school map, stepping back just in time to avoid several students chasing after one another, paying no mind to who they pushed over on the way. Keith cautiously glanced down at the room number before attempting to find where the class was by following the map. Frowning, he could barely figure out where he was even standing with the tiny print and how large the school seemed to be. Or maybe that was just his biased and inexperienced view of the whole building.

He walked to the side of the hallway, opting to close his eyes instead and envision the room number, his mind rushing through hallways and staircases before landing on a door. Taking a deep breath, he followed this sense of direction, walking quickly through crowds of people, some sitting and reading textbooks while others laughing and talking about their days.

As he continued to walk, he passed a large glass display case containing awards from swim meets to international science competitions. He’d walk past teachers and people who paid no mind to him and other people who stared at him judgingly as he continued down the hall.

He finally ended up at the correct classroom, recognizing the door. However, all Keith could pay attention to was the hallway he was now in, lit up brightly by the windows that lined all the way through. As he waited for classes to begin, he couldn’t help but stare beyond the glass where houses and buildings met the touch of the sun, still peeking above lines of clouds.

It looked amazing.

He watched the view for a bit longer, but a laugh that sounded so distinctly familiar immediately brought his attention to someone near him.

His eyes landed on a taller male who was currently talking with another student. The boy had tanned skin that seemed to glow under the sunlight pouring from the windows, his mouth still in the shape of a beautiful smile from his evident laughter. Even though he hadn’t seen much of the world—or anything really, he could clearly tell that this person was stunning. He’d emit a warm aura that made Keith want to keep staring at him and he found an unbelievable familiarity in the other’s blue eyes. He felt like he had seen them before, but couldn’t quite place how, when or where.

And suddenly those ocean eyes were full-on looking at him and Keith looked back at the window so fast, he wondered if the other had noticed. He could feel the other staring at him for a good few seconds before he appeared to talk to his friend once again. Keith let go of the breath he didn’t even notice he was holding, trying to make sense of why his cheeks felt like they were burning. He patted them with his hands still unsure of what was happening before tucking a few strands of black hair behind his ear.

He risked another glance, still unsure why the other boy looked like someone he knew. Maybe it was his mind playing tricks on him. Though he wondered if that saying really applied to him with how his mind worked and all.

Whatever the other seemed to be discussing was something that interested him. Or that was what Keith gathered by watching the other’s face, his focus completely invested in the conversation before him.

“You know, they may seem normal from afar,” a voice said beside him. “But they’re both idiots.”

Keith felt his heart jump, turning around to find a shorter girl with an amused smirk as she adjusted her circular glasses. Her short light brown hair was messy, one side poofing out a bit more; her bed head indicated that she had woken up not too long ago.

From the screaming and running around in the hallways to the upbeat music occasionally being blasted, Keith had already come to the conclusion that teenagers were.

“I...figured,” Keith wanted to smack himself. “That-that’s not what I meant.”

The other didn’t take offense to that, but had a look of amusement.

“New guy, huh? First day of school?” she asked in an understanding tone.

“Yeah,” Keith muttered the next part. “Ever.”

“Ever?” the shorter tilted her head in curiosity.

There was no intention for her to hear that and Keith kind of wanted the floor to swallow him right then and there. Why was he so st—

“In public school,” Keith managed to lie quickly. “I was homeschooled...before this.”

“That’s cool,” the girl smiled. “Well, I hope public high school isn’t freaking you out too much. I know it’s a lot to handle. My first year here was hectic.”“I’m Pidge,” she held out a hand and if there was one thing Keith could do correctly, it was a handshake. “Most people call me Katie. Only people I find tolerable can call me Pidge, so consider this an honour.”

“I’m incredibly honoured,” the ravenette replied. “I’m Keith.”

Pidge adjusted her black frames once again. “Well nice to meet you.”

She looked from her left to her right as of what she had to say next was top secret.

“As advice from an experienced high schooler,” Pidge spoke lowly. “I suggest taking something entertaining with you wherever you go. Classes can get boring quickly. Never trust the meat in the cafeteria. The school says it’s high in protein for growing adolescents, but it’s just bioengineered lab-made substances. Oh and if you don’t want to get scammed, the only vending machine that seems to really work all the time is the one near the pool, back of the small gym hallway.”

“Noted,” Keith breathed. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Pidge shrugged nonchalantly. “Just information no one told me when I was new—though I wish someone did. It’s nice not to have to figure stuff out by yourself all the time.”

“That’s true,” Keith agreed.

“Also, I think our science teacher has something against me,” Pidge mentioned, glancing to make sure said teacher wasn’t around. “He’s really intimidating and loud at first. And maybe forever. He also has students on a good side or bad side and if you’re on his bad side it’s most likely you’ll stay there for eternity, but you’ll survive.”

“You aren’t making it sound like I will,” Keith murmured and the other laughed that.

“I guess you're right,” Pidge smiled. “But it’ll be fine. I survived his class last year.”

“Good side or bad side?” Keith couldn’t help but ask.

“Not really good,” Pidge reminiscenced. “But not really bad either. He kind of just tolerates me cause I know what I’m doing.”

Keith actually felt the nervousness he’d been feeling ease a bit as he talked with Pidge. It was nice. Really nice. But naturally, class was starting and Pidge was opening the door to enter and all of a sudden all the nervousness came flooding back.

When he entered the classroom, the first thing he noticed was the whole set up, letting himself have a few seconds of excitement seeing what places in school actually looked like. The second thing was the man, presumably the teacher standing at the front of the classroom with one eye seemingly swollen closed and a trimmed beard.

“You there,” the teacher spoke loudly and somehow Keith knew he was addressing him. “Full name. Now.”

“Keith Kogane...sir,” Keith tried not to look intimidated by the other’s hard stare, but it was kind of difficult.

More students began to pile in and Keith pretended not to notice the ocean blue eyed boy walk in as he awkwardly moved to the side to allow more space for the people entering. The slam of something next to him made him jump slightly and he thought he saw purple lights before his vision cleared to a heavy textbook lying on the table.

“Take good care of it,” the teacher demanded. “Lose it, you pay for it.”

“Mr. Iverson,” the man introduced himself with a slight practised smile. “Welcome to Garrison Collegiate.”

Keith nodded his head a bit in response, unsure of what to think of the sudden change in demeanour. He picked up the textbook, testing the weight in his hands before looking at the rest of the class who were all—well _mostly_ sitting in their seats and chatting.

“Alright, alright,” Mr. Iverson nearly yelled. “Everybody settle down and keep quiet already. Class is starting.”

“Kogane,” the man grunted, pointing to one of the tables. “You’ll be sitting with Katie. Congratulations, Ms.Holt. You have a lab partner.”

Keith was slightly glad that he was at least paired with a familiar face, even though they had only really known one another for minimum twenty minutes. He sat down next to Pidge as class started. They were performing a lab that day, so Keith grabbed the necessary safety equipment as Pidge grabbed other materials.

“I’ve done this experiments so many times,” Pidge frowned as they organized the equipment on their lab bench.

“Do you not like science?” Keith asked curiously.

“Hell no, I love science,” Pidge explained. “It’s just a bummer that I have to take this certain class in order to pass the grade. I’m taking some of the Gr.12 science classes and I’ve just been really invested in it, since I’m learning so much more.”

“It’s just weird being brought back down a few levels,” she finished with a sigh.

“You can always see it as a stress reliever,” Keith offered. “The brain needs a break.”

He was speaking from _a lot_ of experience.

The two organized their materials. Keith had read through the procedure and could understand Pidge’s observations on the simplicity of it.

“I haven’t had a lab partner in a while for reasons,” Pidge exclaimed suddenly. “Fooled around during chemistry last year and singed off my hair. So unless you know how to do this stuff, please don’t get in the way.”

“I assure you, I’ll do fine,” Keith managed after a few moments contemplating whether or not to.

“If it makes you feel any better,” he said, tugging a strand of his raven hair out of nervousness. “I like your hair. I think it looks pretty awesome.”

Pidge looked at him in surprise at the sudden compliment.

“Thanks, Kogane. I basically look like my brother with this hair, but I kinda like it too,” she smiled widely. “I think your hair’s pretty great too.”

He thought back to how he literally chopped off chunks of hair with a shard of glass and was sure the other was lying, but he didn’t mind all that much.

Keith worked diligently, remembering the constant lessons he had learned; lessons where he learned things he still didn’t quite know why he needed to know being trapped in a lab in isolation. It felt weird thinking back to those days. Almost like they were working and training him to be…something bigger than a test subject. He shook the thought out of his head as he focused on the lab.

“Mind me asking if you worked with chemicals before?” Pidge asked in curiosity as she observed him work.

Though he never personally did any lab procedures, he knew enough chemistry to understand how it generally worked.

“Somewhat,” Keith answered.

“At home?” Pidge raised an eyebrow. He already had a feeling that the shorter girl was a deductive person, but now he really had to think himself out of this one.

“I’ve...read a lot of books,” Keith explained truthfully. “Not exactly working with them, but I understand the concept.”

As the two began writing down their observations, Keith heard the students at the table next to theirs laughing and talking to each other. He recognized one of them from earlier in the morning—or possibly even before that since it sounded so damn familiar.

“Don’t spill the chemicals, loverboy,” Pidge sighed. “Try not to blow up the classroom.”

Keith could see through the blurriness of his safety goggles the eye roll the tanned boy from earlier give Pidge, though a smile was present on his face.

“I know what I’m doing, Pidgeot,” he stuck out his tongue as he went back to work. “Don’t you have like five cups of coffee you need to chug down to quench that morning grumpiness?”

“I’m not grumpy in the morning. I’m just— _don’t do that_ —understandably more irritable as someone is with— _careful_ — four hours of sleep,” Pidge explained. “Also— _keep your eyes on the experiment Fuentes_ —I don’t even drink that much coffee.”

“If I sliced you, coffee would literally spill out instead of blood,” the other boy countered. “And thank you for your concern, but I can do this experiment with my eyes closed. Easy peasy.”

Pidge visibly frowned at the other’s confident grin before a mischievous glint shone through both her glasses and safety goggles. Even Keith braced himself.

“Since you’re so confident in your abilities, must I mention the ninth grade incident?” Pidge smirked challengingly as the other’s demeanour quickly changed.

“Don’t you dare! Your lab partner is new and doesn’t need to know this!” The other almost rocketed to their work bench, knocking a few stools out of the way.

“Hm...I don’t know,” Pidge shrugged knowingly. “It’s a pretty good ice breaker.”

Suddenly, the taller boy grabbed Keith’s hand pleadingly. The shorter was thankful for the safety goggles that seemed to hide the odd pink that reached his cheeks.

“Don’t believe anything she says,” the boy exclaimed and Keith noted how his eyes still appeared an unfair vibrant blue even with the goggles on.

“Actually, Keith. This is a great story, I swear. You see, this guy right here dro—” Pidge began.

“You’re the smartest, most amazing, bestest friend in the whole world!” The tall brunet interrupted loudly. “You’re an endless ray of sunshine in the morning! And you’re even greater because you don’t mention what happened in ninth grade.”

“I’m actually quite dead in the morning, but thanks,”Pidge admitted before Mr. Iverson told (read: yelled at) the class to clean up since there were only a few minutes of class remaining.

“You suck, gremlin,” the blue eyed boy let go of Keith’s hand before leaving though the ravenette felt no real hatred in those words. Pidge just laughed a bit in victory.  
As they put their stuff away and got ready for second period, Keith felt Pidge tap him on the shoulder.

“You know, if you want you can come sit with me and my friends at lunch,” the shorter girl offered with a small smile.

“I don’t know,” Keith bit the inside of his cheek.

“No pressure, but I think it’ll be fun,” Pidge added, fixing her glasses. “Seats always open for you, just in case.”

“I’ll see,” Keith trailed off as the morning announcements filled the classroom.

The rest of the first half of the day went by somewhat smoothly. Other than Pidge, nobody seemed to want to approach him or talk to him, though he sort of felt okay with that. His social skills still needed a lot of work.

Lunch came and Keith was relieved that the first half of the day went alright. He pulled out the phone Acxa had given him, texting the three that he was alive and somewhat surviving. He was shocked to find so many messages from them already spamming his phone from worried reminders from Acxa, to emojis from Ezor and fighting techniques from Zethrid for “just in case” measures. Keith typed a sentence regarding meeting Pidge before erasing it. He could mention that to them later if he really wanted to.

When that was done, the ravenette managed to find the cafeteria which was only extremely intimidating. Students were walking in and out of sets of doors and when Keith managed to walk through one, the room was a lot bigger than he had anticipated. He felt himself more drawn to the table closer to the large windows, walking to an empty table and staring outside for a few moments. He placed down his bag and pulled out the lunch he had packed.

Wanting to do something for the time being he decided to pull out a book that Acxa had lent him about portals and rifts in realities. After reading a collection of the other’s favourite books, he could point out that she loved reading factual books that also contained perspectives, theories and ideas that not everyone saw as true.  
Just as he was getting to an intriguing section about the opening and closing of gateways, the slam of a cafeteria tray on the table scared him half to death.

“Introduction To Portals And Gateways, huh?” Pidge read the book title. “It’s a good read. One of those books that ‘pushes you to look past the boundaries of science that we’ve thought to be impossible’...or something.”

“Are you quoting the book?” Keith asked raising a brow.

“Trying to, yes,” Pidge remarked, munching on her bowl of fries which were probably not nutritional whatsoever.

“My friends will be here soon,” she said between chewing. “You know, the two idiots.”  
Keith felt a bit bad, knowing he never got the best look at her other friend. The boy that looked so oddly familiar seemed to capture his focus the whole time he was staring in their direction like a complete moron or even in their science class.

“Is this your usual table?” Keith already began to put his stuff back into his bag and get up from the seat, “I can go if you want.”

“Whoa, hold up,” Pidge stopped him. “Do you know the theory of cause and effect? Causality?”

Keith sat back down in confusion.

“Basically it surrounds the idea that things that happen are connected to one another where one event is partly responsible for something else which is partly dependent in return,” she explained, bowl of fries completely forgotten. “So what I’m getting at here is that you sat at this table without knowing that this is actually where my friends and I sit every lunch. Although I offered earlier you still had no idea where we’d even be sitting. Therefore this is some sort of event caused by some other event from before.”

“So you mean to tell me that I sat at this table because this was fated to happen,” Keith confirmed.

“Potentially,” Pidge popped another fry in her mouth.

“Do you do this to everyone who randomly sits here?” Keith asked.

“That’s the interesting thing,” Pidge wiped her fingers on a napkin, excitedly. “No one since freshman year has sat here but us. No one. We’ve never walked in and had some random new buddy.”

“And there’s no need for you guys to start today,” Keith began to get back up before the shorter pulled him back down with strength he didn’t expect she was capable of.

“I know I called them idiots, but they’re really, really nice people,” Pidge insisted.  
Keith always kind of had the feeling they were good people. Liking them wasn’t his concern though.

“They’ll like you,” Pidge mentioned as if reading his mind.

_And he was the one with the psychic abilities._

“And that’s because _I_ think you’re cool,” Pidge added. “I’m hard to please.”

“Cool?” Keith questioned. It was a bit hard to believe.

“Well, you’re reading a book about portals,” Pidge pointed out. “Plus you are actually really fun to talk to. So yes. Cool.”

Keith felt a bit happier at those words. For once, someone was talking about _him_ , not just his powers.

“Cool,” Keith mouthed to himself before the sound of footsteps neared.

“Oh hey, Pidge,” a kind face suddenly spoke. “Who’s your new friend?”

When the ravenette looked up to get a better look at the new arrival, Keith couldn’t help but find an unbelievable amount of comfort in the other’s warm brown eyes. They only seemed to prove his genuinity and for some reason he could feel that the other gave people around him the feeling of “home.” And even so, Keith had never had one for even that long. The people he was meeting here were sure fascinating.

“Hunk, this is Keith,” Pidge gestured to both of them respectively. “Keith, this is Hunk.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Keith,” Hunk beamed, holding a strong hand out which Keith tentatively shook.

“Nice to meet you too,” Keith replied. “I’ve heard about you.”

“R-really?” Hunk flushed a bit out of embarrassment as he sat down across from Pidge and Keith. 

“Well, of course,” Pidge said nonchalantly. “I had to make him less nervous by telling him you guys were nice people. Though one of us can be a bit much at times.”

“A bit mu-” Keith was about to ask.

“What’s up guys! You will not believe this! The craziest thing just happened in my m-” an energetic voice nearly shouted as they neared. “Whoa, did Ms.I-don’t-need-a-lab-partner just invite her new lab partner to sit here? What’s with the sudden change of heart, Pidgeon?”

The guy Keith immediately recognized as the ocean-eyed boy from the morning sat down, genuine surprise and interest etched onto his features, dropping his backpack with a thud to the floor.

“I didn’t invite him,” Pidge pointed out matter of factly. “Theory of cause and effect.”

The tall brunette only gave a more confused look, but it clicked quite quickly for Hunk.

“Anyway, this dimwit here is Lance,” Pidge explained. “And this is Keith.”

“We’ve met before...well sorta,” Lance commented as Keith grabbed his bag strap in preparation to run if he needed to. He could somewhat navigate through the big building, so the chances of him getting away were above half at the very least.

“Yeah. In science class,” Pidge snickered. “When you literally held his hand in a death grip.”

“Well, yeah that too. Sorry about that by the way,” Lance laughed sheepishly before he turned to Hunk. “He’s also the window guy I told you about.”

“The window guy?” Keith questioned, letting go the strap and suddenly escape completely forgotten.

“Yeah. It’s nothing insulting, I swear,” Lance put his hands up in defense before he scratched the back of his neck. “It’s just that you were looking outside with such fascination. I don’t know. There’s nothing too special about the view, so I found it interesting that you seemed so...captured by it, I guess.”

There would’ve been a short moment of silence if Pidge hadn’t started munching on her fries once again.

“I...I’m just not used to seeing stuff like that,” Keith didn’t technically lie at all. “I lived a pretty sheltered life.

_If sheltered meant being stuck in a laboratory for all his life._

“I was...homeschooled before I came here.”

 _If homeschooled meant private lessons with the only friend he managed to make all his life back in the lab_.

“And this was my first time at a public school,” Keith was only partially lying. Most of it was pretty much the truth in a softer— _much_ _softer_ context.

“Are you enjoying the school as of now?” Hunk asked. “It’s a lot of stuff to take in. Trust me, I got lost in the building a couple of times before I got the hang of it.”

“Yeah. It’s alright if you have the map glued to your hand for a few days,” Lance added.

“For you, it was a few weeks,” Pidge snorted as she ate another fry.

“Excuse you, this place is a labyrinth!” Lance exclaimed. “You can’t blame me for getting lost. Even you couldn’t find your way for a solid few days.”

“True,” Pidge shrugged acknowledgingly.

A second later, Lance glared accusingly at Pidge, “You didn’t mention the incident, did you?”

“I didn’t, I swear,” Pidge sighed. “Besides, even though I make fun of you for it, it wasn’t that bad.”

“You sure?” Lance frowned, before Hunk put a hand on his shoulder.

“Trust me. It really wasn’t anything serious. I’m sure it’s blown over by now,” Hunk reassured the other. “It’s just another learning experience. We all make mistakes and the best thing we can all do is learn from them.”

“And that is the angel of our group,” Pidge chimed in.

“The most considerate human being you’ll ever meet,”Lance added, leaning on the other as Hunk blushed lightly.

“Guys, that’s enough,” Hunk sighed, focusing on his lunch.

“He’s also humble,” Pidge pointed out, gesturing to the other.

“And he can cook too!” Lance snatched the other’s container quickly, showcasing the meal inside. “He’s the whole package.”

Keith couldn’t exactly judge whether food looked impressive. Literally anything looked more appealing than green goo, but he managed to give Hunk a lame thumbs up afterwards, one that the other luckily accepted with a genuine smile. There were a few seconds of everyone eating their lunch before the conversation started up again.

“Ok, but I never got to tell you guys about what happened in my music class,” Lance remembered. “You see, I tripped over some kid’s trombone-”

“And Lance is the idiot of the group,” Pidge exclaimed.

“Excuse me!” Lance scoffed. “Respect your elders, gremlin.”

“Ok, _old_ idiot,” Pidge smirked, popping another fry in her mouth before Lance grabbed the bowl of fries with lightning speed, holding them far from the shorter’s reach.

“Hey! No, give em back!” Pidge flailed unsuccessfully. “I need to eat!”

“Fries are not nutritional at all,” Lance shook a finger in her face. “Are you seriously gonna feed that tiny body of yours more...cholesterol?!”

“Fries don’t even have cholesterol,” Pidge grumbled now instead of flailing, holding out her arm expectantly. It was still unsuccessful.

Keith couldn’t help but smile at the squabble as it reminded him too much of Ezor and Zethrid’s bickering.

“I demand a better role in the group,” Lance declared.

“Like what?” Pidge raised an eyebrow.

After a few seconds of pondering, Lance brightened up. “Sharpshooter.”

“Seriously, Lance,” the shorter girl deadpanned. “You played laser tag once.”

“No, that’s not it,” Lance shook his head, grinning. “I aim for hearts and never miss. The best goddamn sharpshooter you’ll ever see.”

“Oh god,” Pidge looked like she died a bit more on the inside before staring longingly at her lunch in the taller’s possession and huffing. “Fine.”

“Lance,” she gestured to the taller male with little to no enthusiasm. “The sharpshooter of the group. Murderer of both men and women alike.”

“Ok, the last part was more of _your_ role in the group,” Lance pointed out, still handing back the fries.

Lance made brief eye contact with Keith before turning back to his lunch. And the ravenette sort of semi prayed that the other’s mischievous smile didn’t mean anything. But of course he was never lucky.

“Alright, what about Keith?”

“Why do I need a role? I just coincidentally sat down at this table...for the window,” Keith protested immediately, ignoring how Pidge mumbled something about cause and effect again beside him. “Isn’t this breaking up the trio?”

“You don’t have to worry about stuff like that,” Hunk assured. “None of us believe in limits in numbers. If we like you, we’ll befriend you. That’s how we work. Just a regular group of friends.”

And Keith still didn’t understand how groups of friends functioned at all yet.

“I personally think we’d make a wicked quartet,” Lance exclaimed. “Besides what would an angel, sharpshooter and murderer be without a…”

Everyone brainstormed on how to fill in the blank. Keith couldn’t offer anything albeit useful. There were too many terrible things he could label himself and the other three may never understand.

“Window guy,” Lance suggested.

“Next,” Pidge rejected almost immediately.

“But he’s really drawn to windows for some reason,” Lance pointed out before shaking his own head. “You know what, that does sound dumb. Do you guys have anything?”

“Analysis?” she shrugged.

“Doesn’t that make him sound like an experiment?” Hunk asked, scratching the back of his neck.

Keith pulled his hoodie sleeves, deciding to ignore what had just been said. They didn't exactly know anyway, so he couldn’t hold anything against them.

“What about emo?” Lance put a hand to his chin as he brainstormed.

“Emo?” Keith paused, thinking over the word. “I don’t know what that means.”

“C’mon, it’s perfect! You’re wearing all this black, you’ve got the fingerless gloves,” Lance pointed out. “You have a mullet.”

“Ok, none of those were really valid reasons whatsoever,” Pidge snorted. “And I highly doubt his hair is a mullet.”

“I’ve never really had appearances as the most stressful thing for me to tend to. If it grows, it grows,” Keith quoted his friend, smiling a bit at the memory of him. He tucked a few strands behind his ear once again.

He chose to ignore Lance’s muttered, “still a mullet.”

“Well,” Lance cleared his throat, glancing at Pidge. “Do you have any grand ideas left?”

Although she tried her hardest, even she couldn’t come up with anything.

“What do you wanna be, Keith?” Hunk finally asked.

The real question was what did he _think_ he was. And there were too many things that Keith couldn’t say out loud. After all, this was supposed to be a friend thing. He still had no idea how any of this worked, so he opted to tell something at least honest.

“Freak,” he muttered under his breath. Of course he didn’t expect anyone to really catch that, let alone the angel.

“Freak? What do you mean by that?” Hunk furrowed his brow in confusion.

_The kind that can move things with their mind._

“It means what it means,” Keith replied simply.

“Being mysterious, huh?” Lance remarked before his eyes suddenly widened in excitement, back straightening immediately as he slapped the table. “That’s it!”

“What is?” Keith fiddled with the hair tie on his wrist.

“You’ll be our mystery!” Lance exclaimed excitedly. “Our ragtag quartet now has an angel, a sharpshooter, a murder _and_ a mystery. It’s genius.”  
“

We sound so stupid,” Pidge sighed, but a smile formed on her lips afterward anyway.

“You know you love it,” Lance said proudly.

“Alright, alright,” Pidge rolled her eyes, checking her much more modern looking phone. “It’s almost time for next period. Let’s hurry up.”

“You need help finding your class?” Hunk asked Keith as everyone began getting up.

“No, I’m good,” Keith shook his head.

“Oh, alright,” Hunk smiled warmly. “Well then, have a nice first day.”

“Thank you,” the ravenette responded quietly, waving a goodbye to the taller male who had to run since Pidge was impatiently yelling at him to hurry up.  
  
As Keith exited the cafeteria, Lance seamlessly walked almost naturally beside the shorter.

“So what do you have now, mystery?” he asked, hand resting casually on the one blue backpack strap slung on his shoulder.

“Hm. English?” Keith recalled.

“Oh, cool. You’ll probably meet Shiro!” Lance beamed and Keith ignored the weird feeling he got again when he saw the other seem so excited.

“ _Shiro_?” Keith spoke with the correct pronunciation. Japanese was after all one of the languages he was fond of.

“Yeah. He’s this really awesome new teacher,” Lance explained. “He actually graduated from this school not too long ago and he’s also the swim team coach, so I got to know him a bit better. Really cool guy.”

Keith could tell Lance really looked up to this Shiro, especially with how fast and excitedly he was speaking.

“And he’s got a cool-lookingscar and this really, really awesome met-” the brunet stopped, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’m kind of rambling, aren’t I?”

“No, it’s fine,” Keith shook his head before adding for good measure. “You weren’t rambling.”

“People say I talk too much, so...just been trying to cut it down a notch,” the taller sighed.

“He’s really nice, but also stern when he needs to be,” Lance finished. “He’ll probably like you.”

That was the second time someone had assumed people would find him tolerable. He was still unsure about that. Well, maybe not unsure. Heavily in disagreement.

“I highly doubt he’ll even notice I’m there,”Keith spoke his thoughts.

Lance snickered beside him and Keith frowned. “What?”

“Nah, man. After that, now I don’t think he’ll ever leave you alone,” Lance explained, still with an amused look.

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean?” Keith asked, alarmed.

“It means what it means,” Lance simply quoted the other much to his annoyance. _His own words against him_.

Keith glared at the other’s smug look. “But you said—”

“Nope, my lips are sealed,” Lance smirked, pretending to zip his mouth shut. “Can’t ruin a mystery for the mystery.”

Keith frowned, clearly not amused by the other’s small game. So he did something he really wasn’t proud of, staring at Lance’s dark blue sneakers intently, mind quick at work. _Sorry, Acxa._

“Your shoelaces are untied,” Keith pointed out. “You should really tie them.”

“An untied shoelace has never hurt anybody before,” Lance waved a hand dismissively before Keith telekinetically made the other trip and fall with a yelp.

“Tie your shoelaces!” Keith yelled behind him with a grin of his own. He counted that as a win for him.

The taller managed to scramble back up after tying his shoelaces and run back to walk beside the shorter once again.

“Ok, I’m not sure how that happened or how you did that,” Lance began.

“I didn’t do anything,” Keith said, feigning innocence. “I tried to warn you.”

“Ha! Or did you curse me!” Lance exclaimed, accusingly to which Keith simply shrugged.

“I assure you, I’m not capable of such a thing,” Keith lied, ignoring the uneasiness he felt after the words left his lips.

Lance seemed to observe the other for a brief second before he waved his hands. “Alright, alright. I believe you.”

The two slowed down a bit as Lance was getting closer to his supposed class.

“This is my stop,” Lance gestured to another hallway. “The hallway of doom.”

“And where does that possibly lead?” Keith asked as he watched the other act dramatically, pretending to hold a wound that pained him to the point of trouble breathing.

“Math class,” Lance managed between clutching his chest in fake pain.

“What kind of sharpshooter can’t handle simple math?” Keith teased, a bit startled with himself for playing along with the taller male.

“Does a sharpshooter even need to be good at math?” The brunette asked.

“The quartet needs one who is,” Keith convinced the other.

“You’re right,” Lance’s arm returned by his side. “Guess, I’ll just have to prove my worth as a marksman by factoring equations. For the team.”

Keith couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the other’s exasperated vow, expecting the other to begin to leave for class in a march, only for him to say more.

 _“I guess we’ll have to part, beautiful mystery,”_ Lance suddenly spoke perfectly in Spanish, shooting the shorter of the two a wink.

Keith raised an eyebrow, wondering if the other’s goal was to make him confused as revenge for the shoelace incident. He clearly did not expect him to understand what he was saying.

 _“I don’t quite understand what you mean by that, but I’ll see you later, Lance,”_ Keith said back just as perfectly, grinning at Lance’s eyes widening. He walked away and headed to his next class, leaving the other in shock.

The ravenette was already gone by the time Lance breathed a laugh in amazement. The brunet wondered how dumbfounded he looked staring off into the long hallway, though his smile was soon replaced by a shade of pink, shaking his head as he remembered what he had just said to the other.

— x — x — x — x —

Keith made his way up the stairs, taking a millisecond to marvel at the modern design of the school once again, streams of light always seeming to enter the bright school through panes of glass.

He turned the corner still a bit lost in thought when he crashed into a wall. Or what felt like a wall. He only knew that said wall was actually not a wall and a person when they grabbed him before he embarrassingly fell to the floor.

“Are you alright?” the man in front of him steadied him as Keith nodded his head.

“Sorry about that.” The person Keith had so gracefully crashed into was much stronger and taller and now thought he thought about it, it wasn’t that big of a surprise when the young man didn’t budge at all.

There were many interesting features ranging from the tuft of white hair, or scar running along his nose, or his gray eyes. However, even compared to those the thing that Keith found himself staring at was his right metal prosthetic arm. The shorter ravenette quickly caught himself, staring back up to the man’s face to find a friendly smile—which was also something he wasn’t expecting.

“I haven’t seen you around before,” the man pointed out, waving the metal arm Keith tried not to get distracted by. “And being my subject’s hallway, I know who walks through these halls everyday. I’m Shiro. English teacher.”

“Keith,” Keith said in response before adding, “...Kogane. Student?”

Shiro seemed to chuckle at that though Keith didn’t think he said anything remotely hilarious.

“So you’re the new student in my class,” Shiro mused as Keith nodded his head slightly.

The teacher began walking down the hallway and Keith assumed he wanted him to follow. He trailed relatively behind just in case.

“How are you enjoying Garrison?” Shiro asked and only then did Keith speed up his pace to catch up with the teacher.

“It’s alright,” Keith replied, tugging a strand of hair.

“I hope you’re liking it here,” Shiro continued as they walked. “I remember my high school years here and they were some of the best.”

The shorter ravenette saw a look of melancholy pass on the older man’s face. He pretended not to notice when Shiro shifted back to a warm neutral expression.

“Do you like English?” Shiro suddenly asked.

Clearly as an English teacher, Keith assumed the other would be happier if he said he did.

“I like the language,” Keith replied. “And the literature.”

Keith always enjoyed the different languages he knew. All the different types of literature and ways you could express words. It was truly wonderful and the ravenette only hoped that somewhere in the school, there were some books he could get his hands on.

“That’s good,” Shiro breathed a laugh. “Nobody really seems to enjoy the class.”

“Why don’t they enjoy the language they speak everyday?” Keith asked in curiosity.

“Believe me, if someone out there figures that out, I’d love to know,” the taller man mused. “I’ll be honest with you, I wasn’t a huge fan of English back in high school either.”

“You’re an English teacher,” Keith pointed out. “So something changed your mind.”

“Yeah, something really did,” Shiro laughed a bit. “I hit a rough patch in my life and stories and literature really helped me in those times.”

Keith trailed behind a bit, noting that his English teacher seemed to be the most approachable and talkative compared to the other classes he had experienced thus far, yet he wasn’t really talking back. He felt a bit guilty for it.  
He couldn’t help but note all the understandable things that made Lance admire this man. After all, Keith had only really just met him and he already held such a genuinity to his kind words and he seemed like a hardworking teacher who cared for the well-being of all his students.

Shiro opened the classroom door Keith recognized from envisioning it earlier, turning on the lights and heading over to his neat desk. Keith hesitantly followed into the classroom which was clean and almost pristine looking.

Shiro opened a few drawers and flipped through what appeared to be an agenda. He grabbed a few worksheets before tucking them into the pages of a maroon book.

“Lucky for you, my classes as of right now are actually on a new section,” Shiro explained, passing Keith the book. He held it with care and excitement, pulling it closer to his chest much to the teacher’s amusement.

“I hope you like Shakespeare.”

— x — x — x — x —

_The day of the escape.  
_

_1, 2, 3._

Lotor grunted as he repeatedly slammed himself roughly against the crack in the wall until he felt the familiar pain of his shoulder dislocating. He hissed, gritting his teeth, waiting for the sharp pain coursing through his arm to turn into a dull ache. The brunet slid down the wall and situated himself on the ground as the alarms he all but expected sounded throughout the building.

A flood of workers and security began rushing through the building, a few stopping to help Lotor up and get his wound treated. Even though everyone was trying to talk to him or reassure him that he’d be ok, all he could think about was whether Akira would make it safely to his three most trusted friends. He knew how smart the other was, so he’d have no doubts that he’d figure out what to do. But naturally, he had to consider whether Akira would run into any problems on the way.

As he was lead to a room with a stretcher where a few specialized scientists began to treat him, he cursed himself for not mentioning his plans to the other sooner. He didn’t know that Akira had planned to escape by himself the whole entire time. If he did, he would have informed the other exactly what to do to remain safe and who to trust. But clearly, he didn’t have enough time to give the other a crash course during the few minutes they had left to speak. He didn’t even mention what he felt for Akira either.

He gritted his teeth as someone injected him with something that somewhat eased the pain coursing through his veins before popping his shoulder back into place even though he could’ve done it himself. He was moved to lay down on the stretcher and he found he didn’t have enough strength to sit back up. Which was nonetheless odd, considering a popped shoulder shouldn’t have had these side effects whatsoever. As the other people in the room rushed out to get orders on what to do, Lotor felt the room spin and the sirens echo before he fell into a deep, unwanted sleep.

The brunette awoke, sitting up quickly, frantically looking around to find some sort of indication of how long he had been out. He muttered a few colourful words when he thought about how much crucial time he had wasted being unconscious. He checked his watch finding that around six hours had passed. He wondered how much searching they had accomplished in that time. Or anything they had managed to accomplish in those hours. Lotor didn’t dwell on that too much as familiar yelling echoed through the halls.

“I don’t care what needs to be done,” his father’s voice growled. “Just do it. You will search this whole damn city until we find him.”

“But, sir that’ll make our activity more-”

“That subject has been the best thing that has ever happened in this lab,” Zarkon spat, making his intent clear. “We can’t let that research get out into the world before we get...”

Lotor looked away when he felt Zarkon’s presence at the doorway of the room. He felt the taller man’s disapproving stare before his footsteps disappeared. Lotor breathed a frustrated laugh. The older man’s silence only showed his disappointment and how he somehow managed to shift the blame onto him. Technically, Lotor did aid in the escape and frankly he didn’t care about the lab, but Zarkon of all people didn’t know that, yet he proceeded to look at his own son like he had wronged him for getting wounded.

It didn’t matter as of right now. Lotor had bigger problems to deal with than his father. That was a sentence he thought he’d never say in his head.

The brunet huffed a sigh, stretching his arm a bit before cautiously leaving the room. As he moved quickly down the halls, he could already see from a window, cars getting ready to leave in search for Akira. He sighed a bit in relief, knowing that they were still trying to find him. That was good. That meant Akira managed to get far enough away for the time being. He’d have to check later to see if any of his three. friends had contacted him yet.

He could hear Honerva screeching commands from a nearby hallway, having sent each vehicle a map of locations to search thoroughly. Lotor could faintly hear something about “not looking too suspicious,” before he moved further away. He wanted to blame being knocked out for why her voice seemed to ring annoyingly in his ear, but who was he fooling?

Lotor saw this as his chance, quickly heading to Honerva’s office. He prayed he had enough time for this. He crept inside the office, thankful that the cameras were still damaged from Akira’s escape. He left the lights off, unwilling to risk exposure. He hurried to her computer, which was luckily already turned on, typing quickly. He had managed to hack his parent’s system on multiple occasions out of pure boredom before. If he actually cared about their lab, he’d tell them to up their security. But because he didn’t, he easily pressed in the right coding before entering the programs the hag had used not too long before.

He entered coordinates on the opposite side of the city from the address he and given Akira. As fast as he could, he checked what sections they had already gone through as they were marked in purple. Understanding the general amount the lab had already searched through, he blocked off a section of the city and coded it to appear to have been thoroughly checked already. He repeated this for several other random location spread out near the areas already checked.

The buffering sign seemed to mock him as he waited for the system to confirm what he had sent out. When the program said the change was complete he sighed in relief, exiting out of the program and making sure to hack the computer's system to temporarily adjust its history.

Lotor quickly left the office as fast as he came making his way back to the infirmary. He knew it wouldn’t fool them forever, but he only prayed that Akira’s trail would be too faded away for them to trace him when the time they discovered what he had done ever came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok! So Keith has met the gang! Yay! 
> 
> I’ve already thought out their backstories and their goals, so this’ll be much more fun to corporate into the future chapters! I found writing the gang fun! Lance is precious, Pidge is precious and Hunk is precious. And also socially inept Keith who really needs a hug 24/7. Honestly, they’re the best. Also don’t expect this story to be realistic whatsoever XD I don’t know what I’m doing half the time. 
> 
> I initially had no idea how Keith would meet everyone, until I decided that Pidge would be his first friend at school because I live for Keith and Pidge friendships, they are honestly the greatest! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Your support always means a lot to my insecure, socially anxious heart! 
> 
> (Also a lot of foreshadowing in this chapter...hint hint)


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh god. Snob, nine o’clock,” Hunk breathed. 
> 
> “Snob?” Keith asked before seeing Pidge scowl at a student entering the cafeteria. 
> 
> “Carson Price,” she frowned. “An arrogant asshole who won the fair last year and now can’t seem to shut up about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here’s another chapter! It took me forever to edit this and it probably still has a lot of mistakes considering I was brain dead and in dire need of sleep when I finished reading through it. 
> 
> As usual, I hope you enjoy this chapter! And please forgive me and my sleep deprived soul for any dumb or stupid sounding mistakes (´∀｀*)

High school.

It was something that initially terrified him—it still kind of did, but Keith actually found himself excited to wake up the next day for it. Or maybe just for the people he met there.

After the first day was done and over, Keith told the three girls about Pidge and the other friends he made after Ezor pestered him.

The car ride back was a flurry of questions and only then did he discover where they’d usually hide Comet in a dark garage like unit of the same run down building they resided in. Keith adjusted to the dark area they were now in, stepping on an old newspaper as he exited the garage and back into one of the littered alleyways.

They arrived back into the loft and Keith felt an odd feeling he could only describe as returning somewhere he’d actually call ‘home’ after a long day. He closed his eyes, reveling in the urge to call out his return to no one in particular before Ezor swung him around happily.

“I’m so proud of you! I knew you could do it!” she nearly squeezed the life out of him. “And because of that! We have an amazing, special surprise for you!”

Keith only blinked in confusion.

“Remember when we told you about how you can customize your room however you’d like?” Zethrid asked, smirking deviously.

Keith remembered. The three were surprised to see how he didn’t want much. Just a handful of things. His room was mostly plain and simple, void of much of any rick rack. A small part of him wondered if it was because he was so used to an empty room. Or owning so little.

“Well while you were at school, we got to work,” Acxa began. “And we got your request.”

Keith could barely register her words before Ezor was dragging him to his room excitedly, door already swung open wide.

“Ta da!” she sang, arm outstretched as she gestured to the new object in the room.

Keith was shocked as he walked towards a beautiful vintage wooden chest, kneeling down to run a hand on a much smoother surface than what he expected. Naturally, people wouldn’t think a wooden box was that exciting, but he truly took joy in the most simplest of things. It looked handmade, built by the very hands of somebody out there. And that made it more special.

“It’s...lovely,” Keith breathed, not knowing how else to describe it.

“Open it,” Acxa said, arms crossed as she leaned against the doorway with a small smile.

Keith unhooked the latch and lifted the lid, peering inside, eyes widening as he found a collection of books and other objects that the three no doubt gave to him. The satchel he had arrived with was also fit snugly inside sending him another mental reminder to look through it later.

He picked up one of the books and immediately recognized it as a dictionary. He was slightly embarrassed to admit it, but he was rather upset he couldn't bring the one Lotor had gifted to him when he escaped, but having another now from his three new guardians had eased the guilt a bit.

“He told me that you used to have one,” Acxa explained. She didn’t have to say who she was referring to. Keith could only smile fondly at the familiar weight of the book in his hands to prove his understanding.

“Keep looking,” Ezor insisted excitedly.

Keith, still unnoticeably giddy from the dictionary, looked back inside finding another item that had to have been a thoughtful gift from one of them. It was a sketchbook with a simple black cover that was smooth in texture. He opened it up to find blank pages waiting to be filled.

“I thought it’d be nice to draw in if you ever get bored in classes,” Ezor shrugged nonchalantly but had the biggest, happiest smile on her face. “Or whenever you don’t know how to express your feelings in words.”

Keith ran his hand on the cover once again, opening his mouth to say his thanks to both Acxa and Ezor before Zethrid suddenly interrupted.

“Okay, last one is clearly gonna be mine, kiddo,” she bellowed, rubbing her hands together excitedly. “And I in fact think it’s the best one.”

Keith breathed a laugh as Ezor smacked Zethrid and whined about how hers was clearly the most thoughtful. The ravenette looked back into the chest and pulled out a surprisingly heavy book titled, “Self Defence For Dummies,” a purple sticky note on the cover scrawled with familiar messy handwriting.

_Dear Squirt, If you ever find yourself in danger, I hope this book can help you. You can throw it at your opponent or use it as a shield. The actual text inside might help too._

He couldn’t stop smiling or the warm feeling that rose to his cheeks as he looked at everything the three had given him, including the room he was currently in and the clothes on his back. How they put so much thought into someone—something like him. How they went out of their way for something like this. It was crazy even thinking about it.

He gently placed the items back into the chest, closing it with the utmost care. He stood up and awkwardly cleared his throat when the three stared at him expectantly.

“I...I can’t thank you enough...for um everything. You’ve done so much—too much for me,” Keith started, wishing he could put his thoughts to proper words. “Can I...Do I...hug you guys?”

The three laughed and Keith immediately thought he did something wrong.

“No need to ask! Get over here!” Ezor squealed, literally latching onto him in a bone crushing hug. Despite the pain, all Keith felt was warmth.

“You’re something else, squirt,” Zethrid chuckled with a smile, joining the hug strongly even lifting the two up for a good few seconds.

“And as an acclaimed mother now, who am I to deny my son?” Acxa sighed followed by an amused grin, adding into the embrace.

The four remained like that for a while and a small— _or huge_ part of Keith kind of wished they stayed like that for even longer. For the first time, he’d been given so much love from so many people. He wanted it to stay like that forever if that wish could only be granted. He wanted to keep this feeling one called happiness even if it was only for a few more days. For a few more hours. For a few more seconds.

He just wanted to be happy.

— x — x — x — x —

A few days had passed and Keith had learned so much about his newfound friends. Like how Lance had a total of four siblings and they were the loudest family he’d ever meet, Hunk had a weird habit of baking at abnormal hours of the morning and night, and how Pidge could actually beat someone at chess blindfolded. Keith quickly discovered that he really enjoyed being around these people and wondered if he was selfish for wanting to be with them all the time.

Those thoughts ate away at him the whole way to his science class before he was ushered to his seat by Pidge who had the fiercest look of determination Keith had ever seen of her in the morning. When he sat down he could see her scribbling things down in a new notebook. Keith couldn’t ask her what she was doing before Mr. Iverson called for the class’ attention.

“Alright, people,” he exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “It’s that time of the year that we’ve all been anticipating.”

Keith looked in confusion as the class erupted into cheers and applause, chatter already beginning to form and dissipate when Mr. Iverson raised a practised hand to silence them.

“That’s right. The annual Garrison Science Fair,” Mr. Iverson announced. “Form your groups. You’ll have a month of class time to work on what you’ll showcase. And without further adieu, this year’s theme is…”

The class hit their desks for a drum roll.

“Anything to do with the human anatomy,” Mr. Iverson finished. “Organs, functions, experiments. Some free examples for you to potentially take. Submit your themes to me by the end of class and begin your research. Groups are maximum five. You know the rules, now get started!”

The class cheered once again and Keith turned to Pidge who quickly tapped him, Hunk and Lance before exclaiming, “My team.”

“Alright, let’s do this!” Lance cried excitedly.

“Can anybody explain to me what’s going on?” Keith asked, watching the class suddenly split into groups.

“This is an annual science fair we have. Every student participates and the school board officials come and visit the fair to choose the winners,” Pidge explained. “And the first place team gets to take their experiment with them to the National Showcase in the city where they’ll be displayed and seen by actual professionals and scientists!”

“It’s a huge deal,” Lance continued. “If you’ve ever placed in this science fair, it’s definitely a good thing to put on your applications to universities. I hear a lot of big shot universities are dying to get their hands on any of the winners—especially consecutive ones.”

“This year we are definitely winning,” Pidge declared, rubbing her hands together.

“Definitely,” Hunk agreed enthusiastically. “Do you guys have any ideas for our theme?”

“Well, I was thinking...” Pidge trailed off for effect. “The mind.”

Lance and Hunk immediately high fived her, whooping in clear excitement. Keith only felt his heart drop.

“It’s perfect,” Pidge nearly squealed. “We’ll blow the competition out of the water.”

After Pidge fistbumped the other two, she turned to Keith expectantly who didn’t share the same anticipation as everyone else. He put a hand on his forearm, resting it where the numbers would be, feeling as if they were searing into his skin. They were burning as if to remind him of who— _what_ he was.

“Do we have to do the ‘mind’?” Keith asked quietly, afraid that they would all hate him for it. After all, they were all so excited. “Isn’t there anything else?”

Pidge lowered her arm, deflating a bit and adding to Keith’s guilt.

“C’mon Keith. The brain is so complicated, no one is going to think about doing it seriously as their subject for the fair,” Pidge pleaded. “It’s the best topic and if we manage to do it right, we can easily win this whole thing and get to the showcase.”

Keith looked at everyone’s faces. They all carried the same expression of near desperation. They wanted this. They wanted to win. They had been so kind to him thus far, so who was he to stop them? Why should he be allowed to get in the way of their happiness? He was being too selfish in wanting to hold on to his own that he’d be sparing everyone else’s. He closed his eyes, drowning in painfully familiar purple lights and white hallways before opening them again.

“Fine. Let’s...let’s do it,” Keith managed, gripping his forearm harder. “We’re gonna win.”

“Hell yes!” Lance cheered.

Pidge pulled Keith into an unexpected hug. He smiled a bit, feeling as though maybe he made the right choice after all. This really meant a lot to her, so it was the right thing to do. That at the very least put him at a bit of ease.

“I’ll go tell Mr. Iverson our topic,” Hunk said, already walking to said teacher.

“We should get started on research right away,” Pidge clapped her hands together. “Are you guys free after school?”

“I’m good,” Lance replied.

“I’ll go check with my...parents,” Keith said, pulling out his phone and sending a text to Acxa.

A few moments passed before she gave him a lengthy reply telling him he could stay for the project but would have to wait for them to pick him up. Under no circumstances could he try to get home alone or get a ride from one of his friends which was just common sense if you asked him. There was a bit more worrying over whether he’d be starving or reminding him not to use his powers under any circumstances. He put the phone away.

“I can too.”

“Ok then,” Pidge fixed her glasses, a wide smile still present on her face.

Hunk sat back down, glancing around before saying in a low voice, “I took a quick look at what some of the other groups are doing. Someone’s doing something on the reproductive system and someone else is doing experiments on the musculoskeletal system.”

“What happened to being the angel?” Keith questioned as Hunk blushed in slight shame.

“Nah, he’s still an angel,” Lance waved his hand dismissively. “He’s just angelically giving us information so we can beat the crap out of the rest of the competition. An angel for the team.”

“Ok, so when I was doing some brainstorming-” Pidge began.

“ _Brain_ -storming,” Lance snorted before Pidge smacked him.

“Anyways, what I had in mind was-”

“What you had in _mind_?” Lance smirked before earning a glare from Pidge.

She grabbed the notebook she was writing in earlier. “I was thinking we could do something about brain waves. You know, how they differ when someone is doing different things.”

She drew a wavy and spiked line on the page. “I’m sure we’ll be able to make something that can measure this.”

“Whoa! This is gonna be some high tech stuff isn’t it?” Lance rubbed his hands together. “This’ll definitely…”

The blue eyed boy trailed off with a mischievous smirk. “This’ll definitely blow their _minds_ —Ow!”

“Would you knock it off?” Pidge grumbled, writing down a few notes. “Anyways, we should try recording brain waves when each of us is doing something like reading or playing music.”

“It’s not gonna be some heavy duty machine on the top of our heads, right?” Hunk asked, patting his head.

“Let’s try to make it as lightweight as we can. It’s more efficient that way,” Pidge explained, jotting down the idea.

“I guess you can say we’re trying not to have _a lot on_ _mind_ ,” Lance nudged Hunk, who much to his efforts not to, breathed a laugh.

“We also need some device that can keep the brain waves constant,” Pidge continued, choosing to ignore the pun. “I want to obtain as much data as possible, so we have to make sure nothing freezes up as we’re collecting it.”

“Hey, Hunk,” Lance caught the other’s attention. “I think what she meant to say was that we don’t want a _brain freeze_.”

The two attempted to hold in their laughter, high fiving one another.

Pidge didn’t look all too impressed. “Enough joking around. Let’s get back to business-”

“To defeat the Huns!” Lance and Hunk sang in unison, both high fiving one another afterwards.

“I’m surrounded by idiots,” Pidge groaned, head falling to the table. “Except you, Keith.”

Keith shrugged at her as the others were still fooling around. Pidge was back to writing ideas and notes in her notebook, mumbling about how she was gonna end up doing most of the work and possibly killing everyone.

Keith glanced at the other two who were now pretending to battle. He frankly didn’t get what they were doing or what they were most likely referring to, staring at them blankly.

Lance noticed his confused look, stopping the fake sword fight. “You know, Mulan?”

Keith blinked.

“The movie,” Lance tried again.

Keith tilted his head slightly.

“Disney?” Lance exasperated.

“What’s a ‘Disney’?” Keith asked much to the apparent of horror of the taller brunet.

“Nope! That is not ok,” Lance shook his head frantically. “How...how is that acceptable?”

Hunk unhelpfully shrugged.

“People! Back to science fair work,” Pidge clapped her hands to get their attention.

“Ok, but after we win this fair we’re going on a Disney marathon,” Lance declared, pointing to Keith accusingly.

“Take a look at my notes and add anything if you have any good ideas,” Pidge explained, happy that everyone was finally back on track.

Keith began to read the notes in front of him. He wondered how she was able to come up with so many ideas in such a short span of time. His eyes scanned the page, focusing too much on some information for too long while everyone else seemed to be commenting or discussing new ideas. Their voices morphed as he felt the numbers on his forearm tingle again.

Brain waves. Mind activity. Collecting data. He remembered all of that. He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to have to face those memories again. Of days that still felt like yesterday. But he ultimately had to.

The lights flickered due to his rising panic and Keith clasped his hands tightly together, eyes closing as he tried to calm himself. He could do this. He could do it for a friend. He just had to stop himself from overthinking every little thing. He had to stop making all this about himself.

A science project wasn’t a big deal. He could make it through all this in one piece. He was thankful the other three were too busy laughing and discussing the project to notice how terrified he truly felt.

For a new friend, he could do this.

— x — x — x — x —

When lunch came around, Keith arrived at their usual cafeteria table to find Pidge obsessively scribbling down notes and sketching ideas. He sat down without uttering a word, not wanting to disturb the brunette’s process. Lance and Hunk arrived soon after, unaffected by Pidge’s sudden workaholic mode.

“You really want to win,” Keith finally acknowledged.

“Yeah,” Pidge sighed a bit, setting down her pencil. “It sort of puts me a step closer to my dream.”

“What is it?” Keith asked curiously.

“I want to land a job at Altea Tech,” Pidge replied without hesitance, a sparkle in her eyes. “My brother already works there and if he can do it, so can I.”

“Psh. Stop downgrading yourself,” Lance rolled his eyes, turning to Keith. “She’s got her life roadmap planned to the tee. She’s gonna make it to Altea Tech, no sweat.”

“This science fair win will definitely boost my chances though,” Pidge pointed out, biting into her sandwich.

“Your brother only won like what two when he was here?” Lance pointed out.

“It was three and that only proves to show how I’m gonna have to step up my game,” Pidge corrected.

“Don’t stress over it too much, Pidge. You’re hardworking and incredibly smart. If they don’t take you, they’re idiots,” Hunk reassured her. “And besides, with us here we’ll land you that gold.”

Hunk opened up what appeared to be another expertly made lunch. Lance took a piece from the container, popping it into his mouth unapologetically.

“Thanks,” Pidge breathed a sigh. “I just don’t want a repeat of last year.”

“What happened last year?” Keith asked before he could stop himself.

“We weren’t on the same team which was mistake number one,” Pidge explained. “I worked by myself and landed in third. And the ‘thing’ happened, but it was resolved and perfectly fine now.”

Keith noticed Lance frown and concluded that they were referring to the incident that apparently happened the year before. He decided not to pry further and tried to think of a way to change the subject, but came to a blank.

“Oh god. Snob, nine o’clock,” Hunk breathed.

“Snob?” Keith asked before seeing Pidge scowl at a student entering the cafeteria.

“Carson Price,” she frowned. “An arrogant asshole who won the fair last year and now can’t seem to shut up about it.”

“He’s also one of those snooty rich kids,” Lance groaned. “Always bragging about how he’s gonna be the next big thing in the world of science, just like his brother.”

“Ignore him,” Hunk sighed. “He’s just annoying and trying to get under your skin.”

“But he’s also the most threatening opponent we have,” Pidge pointed out.

“Maybe if we don’t look at him, he won’t bother us,” Hunk suggested, averting his eyes to his food.

“That has been mathematically proven by the number of confrontations we’ve had to work about 30% of the time,” Pidge grumbled, not even taking another bite of food for sudden loss of appetite.

“Ugh, here he comes,” Lance warned them.

Keith turned to see a primly dressed boy with blond hair gelled and styled walk over to them. The boy smoothed the navy blazer he was wearing, green eyes eyeing them judgingly. Unlike with the three sitting with him, Keith couldn’t really stand the other’s aura. It felt like he was striving to be superior and only saw others as the peasants beneath him. In other words, it was simply disgusting to look at.

“Katie,” Carson said, looking at everyone else, “Others.”

“What do you want?” Pidge asked, not even sparing the other a glance.

“How rude,” Carson scoffed, accusingly. “I just came here to check on my opponents. I wanted to see any potential threats standing in my way. But now, it appears there aren’t any here.”

“Go away, Price,” Lance scowled. “Don’t you have a polo game to catch or something?”

“No, Fuentes,” Carson merely laughed haughtily. “I have a science fair to win.”

“I hear you refuse to tell anyone what your project is about,” the blond remarked. “But no matter. You’ll lose anyway to what _my_ team has planned.”

“And I suspect you’re gonna gloat about what that is,” Pidge said dryly.

“Precisely. My team will be doing a research and project on the human heart,” Carson explained. “I’m sure whatever you have planned will be nothing in comparison, don’t you agree Ms.Third Place?”

Pidge glowered at the nickname and even Hunk had a near murderous glint in his eye as he prominently frowned at the other’s insult towards his friend.

“Oh and someone else who didn’t even come close to placing is on your team this year too it seems,” the blond turned his attention to Lance who only glared at him in return.

“Dropping chemicals that would in turn ruin someone’s science fair project. Accidental or on purpose?” Carson tsked. “What a shameful—What was it? Ah yes, _ninth grade incident_ , hm?”

Lance’s glare fell, his gaze falling to the table instead.

“My oh my, Ms. Holt, you really want to lose this year don’t you?” Carson exclaimed, breathing another mocking laugh. “You even have some new kid with you.”

“His name is Keith,” Lance hissed.

“And I chose him because I trust him,” Pidge added.

“He’s never even been to one of Garrison’s science fairs, are you sure some homeschooled kid can help you?” The other continued to taunt.

“Ok, that’s it—” Pidge began before Hunk stopped her.

“He just wants to agitate you,” Hunk tried to calm the other down.

“Tch,” Pidge gritted her teeth. “Well, it’s working.”

Keith looked at his friends’ faces. The look of annoyance, hatred and discomfort were all evident. He looked back at Carson who only had an arrogant smirk on his face, as if he believed this encounter was some victory of some sort. As if this was all a game that could be won.

The ravenette frowned, biting his lip as he balled his hands into fists. This random guy was pissing off his friends and they couldn’t do anything about it. He closed his eyes, attempting to calm the feeling of annoyance and anger and as a result panic coursing through him.

The cafeteria lights flickered. Pidge’s sandwich moved an inch. No one noticed.

“Well, I hope you four have a lovely afternoon,” Carson commented in a fake tone. “Till the fair, stepping stones.”

When the other’s prim and proper backside was out of sight, Lance grumbled something in Spanish before stabbing his fork into his lunch aggressively.

“What a prick,” the brunet hissed.

“It’s alright, he’s gone now,” Hunk sighed. “He thinks that everything is a game that he needs to win. The only game that matters to _us_ is that fair.”

“Hunk’s right,” Pidge nodded her head, picking up her sandwich. “He may think that counted as some win, but winning the fair is the only thing that really counts. And we’re gonna do just that.”

Keith sensed the atmosphere change to one of determination. He felt his harsh emotions ease up at that.

The shorter female grinned knowingly. “And seeing his face when we do is just a bonus.”

— x — x — x — x —

Keith closed his locker door, meeting his three friends in front of one of the vending machines Pidge had helpfully informed him earlier would be broken forever.

“We gonna go to your dad’s huge workshop basement garage thing?” Lance asked excitedly, hands clasped together in anticipation.

“Sorry, but no,” Pidge shook her head. “Not yet, at least. We need to do our research first.”

Lance noticeably deflated.

“So I know you’re not going to like it, but we’re going old school,” Pidge adjusted her glasses and began to lead the way. “We’re going to the library.”

While Lance complained almost immediately and Pidge explained why going was so important, Keith ran the word through his head once again.

 _Library_.

“A building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes films and recorded music for people to read, borrow, or refer to,” Keith mumbled to himself. “Books…”

His eyes widened.

“Books!” he exclaimed, his peak of interest suddenly doubling. Or tripling.

Hunk, though a bit surprised at first, smiled fondly at the sudden outburst, Pidge raised an eyebrow in utmost curiosity while Lance only stared at him in utter disbelief.

“You did not just get excited over a library, mystery,” Lance said flatly.

“Not everyone is illiterate,” Pidge commented before getting smacked by the taller boy with a yelp.

“I just like reading,” Keith shrugged. “And I’ve never seen a library before.”

Acxa’s shelf was the most amazing and largest collection of books he’d ever laid eyes on thus far. To imagine there could be so much more, Keith couldn’t wait, following every step Pidge took as she lead them through the labyrinth of halls.

“Boy, you need to get out more. First, not knowing Disney and now this,” Lance breathed, rubbing his temples. “The library isn’t that exciting.”

“Actually, I heard they renovated a few sections of the library,” Hunk mentioned. “Overall, I think it looks really cool. It’s also a nice and quiet study place.”

“Plus, there’s a bucket load of information just waiting to be used for our project,” Pidge pointed out. “A lot of books to go through.”

Keith couldn’t help but smile in excitement.

“All the books in total of the library add up to 5–” Pidge began.

“No, stop,” Lance put a hand up. “Stop making him excited over a _library_.”

That however didn’t prevent Keith from clapping his oversized sleeves together as they walked down the hallway in clear anticipation.

“You probably find it adorable,” Hunk remarked and Lance looked horrified.

“Hunk!” He cried to the other, who only shrugged in response.

Luckily for the brunet, the shorter was too distracted with the glass doors that they were approaching to notice the teasing.

“Welcome to Garrison’s library,” Pidge opened the doors with an amused smile.

Keith walked in, looking at the large room in awe. The library consisted of two floors. The first floor had many shelves full of books waiting to be read, leading to an area three steps lower that had an array of wooden tables to work and study. The second floor consisted of even more shelves, but had tables with computers instead.

“Ok, I know I was complaining before, but are we like recreating that one Beauty and the Beast scene because I am down for that,” Lance exclaimed.

“Yes!” Hunk clapped.

“I volunteer Pidgeon as the Beast,” Lance declared, earning a death glare. “As you can see, perfect choice. You fit the part naturally.”

“Would that make Keith, Belle?” Hunk asked.

“Well, he’s the only one fangirling over _books_ of all things,” Lance reasoned, gesturing to the black-haired boy who was still marveling at the large room.

“You sure you don’t wanna be the B—” Pidge began to tease him with a smirk before she was cut off.

“Hey, Shiro,” Lance waved with a smile. “Didn’t think you’d help out in the library.”

“Us English teachers usually help out when Ms. Roma is too busy. She’s gotta attend her daughter’s dance recital today, so I’ll be running the library till closing time,” Shiro explained. “What are you kids doing here?”

“Science fair,” Hunk replied. Shiro nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“Aiming for first place this year?” he asked as he pushed a cart of books behind the counter.

“That’s the only place to aim for, sir,” Pidge pointed out.

“I guess you’re right about that,” Shiro let out a laugh. “Well, I shouldn’t keep you guys from working. Library’s all yours so far.”

“Later, Shiro,” Lance beamed, walking with Hunk and Pidge further into the library.

“I see you’re making friends,” Shiro suddenly addressed Keith who was just about to walk away as well. “Those three are good people, so I’m more than glad you wound up with them.”

“I guess you can say I’m lucky then,” Keith remarked. He considered himself so.

“I’d say you are,” Shiro agreed with a smile. “So what do you think?”

“...About what?” Keith asked.

“About school so far,” the teacher clarified. “Is everything going alright?”

“As of right now...I think it’s fine,” Keith answered honestly.

“That’s good,” Shiro sighed in relief. “How about people? How are the people here?”

Keith thought back to everyone he had met thus far at Garrison, Shiro included. He thought back to all the interactions, all the words shared and all the new experiences he had only within the few days he had been there. But even so, he didn’t have a definitive answer.

“I don’t know if I know the answer to that question just yet,” Keith pushed a few strands of raven hair behind his ear.

“It’s alright. Whenever you feel ready or whenever you feel you’ve found the right answer, you can share it. Only if you want of course,” Shiro explained understandingly.

“Now get back to your group,” Shiro nodded his head towards his friends. “They’re gonna need you to win.”

Keith highly doubted that but still nodded his head.

“And this is confidential, alright?” the teacher spoke softly. “I’m not supposed to be biased, but I’m rooting for you four.”

Keith felt oddly happy. He didn’t know why these specific people managed to give him warmth that wasn’t comparable to anything he had ever felt before, but they did. He carried this simple yet complicated feeling with him until he reached his friends once again.

“Ok, then,” Pidge sighed. “Let’s get to work.”

They put all their stuff down at one of the tables and were instructed to find at least two books each on something that could help with their project.

There were so many books and Keith couldn’t wait to get a closer look at all of them. He moved quickly toward the shelves, weaving in and out of the library happily before coming across a few books that he deemed possibly useful. He tried to distract himself by skimming through titles of books to ignore the thought of the sole subject of their project.

 _The mind_.

He wanted Pidge to experience the joy she so hoped—she so deserved with the first place prize, but the thought about researching the brain was no doubt terrifying him. He didn’t want to know how vastly different his mind worked from everyone else’s. From everyone who was normal.

He managed to find two books that sounded related to the topic, picking them off the shelf before heading back to the table and placing the chosen two down.

“Sorry, Lance. Those books aren’t really what we’re looking for,” Pidge shook her head, picking up one of the books Keith brought over before nodding her head a bit. “We’re going through non-fiction right now. So we’re gonna need the text with actual facts in them.”

“C’mon, Pidge!” Lance whined before Hunk shushed him, briefly reminding them all that they were in the library. “This seems so cool! Imagine exploring _that_ for our science fair project!”

He held up a light purple book, a bit worn, but seemingly not taken out of the library often due to its condition. Keith read the title and froze.

“Don’t care. Telekinesis isn't real, Lance,” Pidge sighed, sitting down and pulling out a laptop and notebook from her bag. “And something that isn’t practical and factual isn’t gonna land a spot on the podium.”

Keith felt himself pale at those words, suddenly wanting to find an excuse to get the hell out of there.

“At least read a bit of it,” Lance pleaded. “It would make our project ten times more interesting.”

“Nope. It isn’t real,” Pidge opened up a book, writing a few points down. “Tell him, Keith.”

Keith stiffened.

“Y-Yeah, sorry Lance...it...it isn’t real,” he managed.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets so no one would notice him shaking. He wondered if they could hear his heart beating faster. Or if they would notice how softly he was trying to breathe. Was he being too obvious? Were they staring at him? Would they figure it all ou—

“I’ll put the book away,” he offered, watching them all turn from Pidge’s laptop to look back up at him.

“Dude, don’t worry. I’m the one who got it so-” Lance began, but Keith already took it from his hands.

“No, it’s fine,” Keith already headed to one of the bookshelves, taking a few seconds to let himself breathe.

He walked along the shelves, searching for the section of the author’s last name. He gripped the lavender book tighter as his hands still felt cold and shaky. When he finally reached the correct shelf, curiosity took over his fear and he took a second to read a bit of the book. He skimmed over the words “phenomenon” and “rare” and a few paragraphs of the page. His eyes landed on the word “powerful” and he slammed the book shut, unwilling to read through another sentence.

Instead he looked through the last names of countless authors, finding the placement of the book in his hands on one of the top shelves. He attempted to put the book back, but found himself unable to with the height of the shelf. He briefly wondered how the hell the other boy managed to grab the book. Let alone see it.

“Trouble in paradise, short stack?” Lance mused, walking over.

“I’m not short,” Keith denied lamely. _He wasn’t_. He mumbled the next part.

“I’m sorry, didn’t quite catch that,” Lance teased, cupping his ear with his hand. “You see it’s really hard to hear someone when I’m way up here and they’re way down there.”

“I said you’re the one who’s freakishly tall,” Keith repeated with a frown. Lance only laughed.

“Well, being _freakishly_ tall has its quirks,” the brunet pointed out. “Like this for example.”

Now, if Lance slipped the book back into that top shelf, then it would’ve been his teasing game over and won. Check and mate. However, the tall brunet somehow managed to knock over at least five or more other books from the shelf instead.

Instinctively, Keith stopped the books for a millisecond before catching himself and letting them fall on him. He didn’t even stop the one that fell on his head though he really would’ve liked to avoid it. He fell unceremoniously to the floor.

“Oh my god! I am so sorry,” Lance knelt down, gathering a few of the books into his arms. “You okay?”

Keith picked some books up as well before murmuring a quick Spanish,“ _You complete idiot_.”

“Holy shi-iiiishkabobs! I knew I wasn’t losing my mind!” Lance nearly yelled before slapping a hand to his mouth to lower his voice, effectively dropping all the books he picked up before. “You...you speak Spanish, right?”

“I know it fairly well, I guess,” Keith shrugged a bit, getting up and failing once again very miserably at putting any book back onto the correct shelf, even when he was on his toes.

“Here,” Lance said, this time putting all the books back successfully.

Keith was about to say a thank you out of habit to the other for helping him, but for the teasing earlier he opted not to.

“Ok, but how much do you know?” Lance asked, picking up the remaining books on the floor. “Like if I started full on speaking in Spanish, would you be able to understand me?”

“Potentially,” Keith lied. He knew the language very well.

 _“_ Ok, so what if I _...just started speaking randomly like this and started talking out of the blue about childhood stories like throwing up in an amusement park when I was thirteen and that specific roast beef place that my mom used to take me to motivate me to get good grades in all my classes? Would that make sense?_ ” Lance blinked expectantly.

 _“I’ve never been to an amusement park before, but throwing up doesn’t sound that fantastic. Being any age probably does nothing to make it less awful. I also hope we’ll win this science fair, so you’re mom can take you back to that roast beef place,”_ Keith responded, picking up the last book on the ground, which just had to be the one on telekinesis.

“That’s...that’s so cool,” Lance marvelled. “I never would’ve expected…”

“That I could speak Spanish?” Keith raised an eyebrow. “That’s just poor judgement on your part.”

“Ha! Or maybe you’re just more of a mystery than I suspected before,” Lance pointed a finger accusingly at the other.

Keith’s eyes only landed back to the book in his hands. Staring at the title that undoubtedly built a knot in his stomach. _He had no idea how true that intentionally harmless statement was._

“It would be awesome if that stuff was real. If I had it, I’d be able to bring stuff to me without having to get up,” Lance laughed. “Telekinetic powers! Like from the movies.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Keith breathed, faking a small smile before handing Lance the book. “Can you…”

“Are you admitting you’re small?” Lance asked with a smirk, finally placing the book onto the shelf.

“No, but I do think we’re abandoning Pidge and Hunk if we don’t help with research soon,” Keith pointed out instead. Anything to get the other to shut up about his height.

“True. Let’s go before Pidge bites our heads off,” Lance agreed.

The two arrived back at the table which was now covered in open books and stationary. Keith wondered how Pidge and Hunk had managed to transform a wooden table into a mass of paper for however long he was gone.

“Took you two long enough,” Pidge grumbled, scribbling more notes down. “Get started on recording information. It’ll be an intense two hours, but breaks will be included and Hunk also smuggled some snacks.”

“I made banana bread and coconut buns,” Hunk listed. “Plus if Shiro swings by, I’ll bribe him with some.”

“Nice thinking ahead,” Pidge nodded, proudly. “I also call banana bread.”

“No fair! You always take the banana bread!” Lance nearly wailed.

“First come first serve,” the smaller girl smirked, flipping the page of the book she was reading.

“You’re lucky Hunk is a god at baking and I love his coconut buns or I will be wrestling you right now,” Lance said as he glared at Pidge.

“Research,” she tapped on one of the many books on the table.

Keith began looking through one of them, writing about what he found about nerve cells. He focused on just copying information and citing it trying his best not to actually process it, hoping that working on autopilot would stop him from learning anything.

Everybody else was extremely absorbed with their work, the only sound filling the silence was the scritch of pencils against paper and the turn of pages. Not even Lance and Hunk who were by far the most talkative two, the former more so, were idly chatting. Keith absentmindedly flipped the page of his book telekinetically before catching himself, glancing up quickly in a panic with some random excuse at the tip of his tongue only to find that the other three were all too focused on their research to notice.

He let out a small sigh of relief, continuing to work until he had a few papers filled.

“Can someone put these books away?” Hunk asked after a while, breaking the silence. “They’re kind of piling up on the table.”

“I’ll go,” Keith offered, picking up the stack of books that they had already collected information from.

“You sure you’ll be able to reach that high?” Lance teased which only earned him an eye roll from the ravenette.

Keith made his way to the first shelf placing one of the books away carefully. He walked further into the library, slipping books back until there were only three remaining in his arms.

He felt on edge all of sudden, walking slightly faster as he tried to shake off the uncomfortable feeling. It was probably nothing anyway. He made his way to the end of the aisle about to turn right before a figure popped out of nowhere, blocking his way.

Keith nearly stumbled backwards.

“Hey, wait a minute! Is this the new homeschooled kid you were talking about?” a guy sneered, leaning against the shelf with one arm.

His larger form prevented Keith from leaving the section much to his slight annoyance. The teen had a menacing face that only reminded Keith of the men from the alleyway still fresh in his memory. Frowning, he spun on his heel to walk the other way only to run into the snooty boy from earlier. Carson.

“Ah yes. It in fact is,” Carson clicked his tongue. “Kevin was it?”

“Keith,” the ravenette corrected flatly.

“Yeah, whatever. I just wanted to personally welcome you to Garrison Collegiate,” Carson sent him a fake smile. “It’s so nice for you to be joining the fair this year.”

The blond had calculating eyes, observing and analyzing Keith in a way that made him feel much more cautious. Carson was a predator who had caught his prey. Like a cat and a mouse.

Keith tried to walk around the other, but the blond only blocked his way with an outstretched arm.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Where do you think you’re heading off to?” Carson laughed. “I just wanted to talk Keaton.”

“It’s Keith,” Keith frowned, not liking the way he was literally trapped by the two. He needed to get back to the group.

“What is this, Alex?” Carson snatched one of the books from Keith’s hold.

“Hey!—”

“ _Facts About The Brain : What You Need To Know_ ,” Carson read it aloud. “Oh how adorable. You’ve decided to do a project on the brain.”

Keith glared at the him. The lights flickered.

“Give that back,” Keith glowered.

“Oh that’s too bad. The little homeschooler finally getting a taste of what public school is like hm?” Carson remarked in a mock sad tone. “Not like the daisy meadows you envisioned it to be, now is it?”

The blond tossed the book in his hand behind him which fell to the floor at a rough angle. Keith inwardly winced watching the book hit the ground.

“Let me just catch you up to speed, Keagan,” Carson continued once again with another wrong name. Keith was pretty sure he was doing it on purpose. “My older brother won the science fair for the four years he had been here. And as a fellow Price, I’m the one who must continue his legacy.”

“I won last year and I’m planning to win this year. And the next two years after that,” the blond explained. “So do me a favour and tell your little friends that. I may seem irritating to them, but I’m never cruel. I’d rather save them the trouble and the embarrassment when they ultimately lose.”

The other student, Alex suddenly pulled him roughly by the hood causing him to stumble backwards. Carson took that chance to smack the remaining two books from Keith’s arms which was uncalled for. They fell to the floor, scattering roughly at Keith’s feet.

Alex then just had to shove the ravenette aside as he walked to stand beside Carson like that was necessary.

“Good luck at the science fair,” Carson laughed haughtily along with his friend, a piercing sound that rang in Keith’s ear as he stared at the books on the floor through the length of his bangs. The books moved slightly at his feet, further away centimetre by centimetre from him almost as if to taunt him.

The lights flickered again. The shelves though unnoticed by the laughing teens shook, a tremor that shuffled the books in their keep. A book from a top section fell over and hit Carson on the head. The laughter stopped abruptly.

“Ow! What in the name—?” Carson growled, holding a hand to his head. “Did you just throw that at me?”

Before Keith could even retort to the other’s sudden shrieking, he was roughly grabbed by Alex by the front of his shirt. _This was an all-too-familiar feeling._

“You wanna go, you-”

“Is something wrong here, boys?” Shiro asked from the other end of the aisle.

Alex immediately let go of Keith, even backing away a bit as if that erased any evidence of what had just happened seconds before.

“Nothing sir,” Carson’s arm returned to his side, his eyes cast down.

“Really?” Shiro took a step closer, arms crossed. “It didn’t seem like nothing to me.”

Keith was suddenly realizing how intimidating Shiro could be. Even though he knew the teacher was addressing the other two students, he still felt extremely terrified by the other’s tone and sudden figure approaching.

He clenched his fists, closing his eyes. Don’t panic. You’re fine. You panic and everything might go out of control. Control. Control. Control it.

“He started it...sir,” Alex blamed Keith quite pathetically.

“I don’t think that was the case,” Shiro frowned.

“Step out of the library Mr. Price,” he instructed stopping right in front of the blond. “I don’t need that kind of behaviour in here.”

“With all due respect, si-” Carson began, but that only deepened Shiro’s frown.

“I’m telling you to leave. Take a walk. Get out and take your friend with you,” Shiro said clearly. “Maybe you should learn where respect is due before you decide to speak on it Mr. Price.”

That seemed to shut the both of them up. Carson and Alex scurried away, both most likely at a loss of words or pleas to utter.

Keith kept his gaze lowered at the ground, outlining the silhouettes of the books on the floor in order to ignore the feeling of the teacher’s stare.

“Are you alright?” Shiro stepped closer, moving to place a hand on his shoulder and Keith flinched, which he regretted instantly.

“I’m fine,” he replied, bending down to pick up the books on the floor.

He hoped the teacher would just walk away after that, but he knew the man was too caring for that. However much to his surprise, he heard the other’s footsteps walk further away from Keith. But when the ravenette looked up, he saw that Shiro had just gone to pick up the books on the other end of the aisle; one thrown by Carson and the other pushed down by Keith’s telekinesis.

Shiro followed Keith wordlessly as he went to put one of the books away.

“You know,” he finally spoke up. “I met one of my high school friends in a similar way.”

Keith slipped one of the books into the shelf he found, glancing at the English teacher briefly. “What do you mean?”

“When I was here, ninth grade,” Shiro mused, running a hand through the white tuft of hair. “I ran into some not-so-great people. And believe it or not, I used to be really scrawny and short.”

Keith looked at the other’s strong _everything_ with an unimpressed look.

“I seriously was. And if not for the embarrassment, I would show you pictures to prove it,” Shiro continued. “Anyway, I was getting picked on before this random, just as scrawny kid came out of nowhere and stood up for me.”

“So he saved you?” Keith asked, fiddling with the book in his hand.

“No. We got beat up together,” the teacher sighed. “Locked in the janitor’s closet till third period.”

“But we got to know each other and were best friends from that day on,” Shiro finished with a soft smile. “He was a complete and utter dork, but always encouraged me to try out clubs whenever I felt way too nervous to.”

“That seems nice,” Keith hummed, looking back down at the book in his hands and attempting to find where it belonged.

He walked towards a shelf nearby and huffed as he scanned it and found that the book was supposed to be on one of the upper shelves.

 _Curse whoever was tall enough to get the book in the first place_.

“Here. Let me,” Shiro took the books from his hand gently, putting it back with ease that Keith was definitely not envious of. Not at all.

“Thank you,” the undeniably shorter spoke quietly.

“Don’t worry. You’ll get taller. All part of the growing process,” Shiro assured with a smile.

Keith frowned a bit, looking back down at the carpeted floor. “I wasn’t referring to that.”

“But um, that too I guess. I uh...should go,” Keith coughed awkwardly before attempting to quickly disappear from the other’s line of sight.

“Keith,” Shiro somehow managed to freeze Keith in place. “You know you can always come and talk to me if something like that is going on. My door is always open.”

Keith opened his mouth to say something, tempted to turn around to face the other yet unable to. He instead wordlessly walked away faster, pulling on his long black sleeves as he hurried back to the table where his friends were still continuously working. It appeared that Pidge was now munching on banana bread, eyes never leaving the page of her open book sprawled on the table.

“Coconut bun?” Lance all but shoved one in Keith’s face the second he sat down.

“No thanks,” Keith shook his head gingerly. After the confrontation earlier, he didn’t exactly have an appetite. He guessed the snobby blond had the weird ability to do that to people.

“Are you sure? They’re really good,” Lance said with a mouthful. “If you don’t take it, I’ll just have to eat it all.”

“Yeah,” Keith replied before immediately adding, “Nothing against your baking Hunk. I’m sure they’re amazing. I’m just...not hungry.”

“It’s alright,” Hunk gave him a reassuring smile that Keith barely managed to catch before he was looking off to the side.

The room fell silent once again. They worked for what felt like eternity. Keith almost felt suffocated in the silence that only gave his mind more freedom to wander. He wrote notes down and focused on that physical aspect to ignore the bullies from earlier or even the conversation he had with Shiro when the teacher had tried to ease his fears. He scratched his forearm, closing his eyes as he wondered how much longer they were going to have to sit there.

“Well it’s getting late,” Hunk suddenly announced much to Keith’s relief. “I think we should be heading home now.”

“I’m not even tired,” Pidge yawned. “A few more minutes.”

“Yeah, no can do Pidgey,” Lance ruffled her hair which she seemed to protest. “You need some sleep, so you’re not dead in the morning.”

“Alright, alright. Fine,” Pidge pouted, standing up abruptly only to hold onto the table to steady herself. “My legs are asleep.”

“And _you_ need to be too,” Hunk commented, helping her put stuff away and grabbing his bag.

As they began to leave the library, Shiro popped up from the main desk, wearing a jacket and holding a lanyard of keys.

“Oh. I was just about to tell you four that the library was gonna close for the night,” the teacher remarked. “Well, I’ll be locking up, so make sure you have everything.”

“We’re good, sir,” Lance grinned. “Have a nice night, Shiro.”

“You as well, Fuentes,” Shiro said. “We need you well rested for tomorrow’s practise.”

“Yes sir!” Lance yelled a bit too enthusiastically for anybody’s energy levels at that hour. Keith was pretty sure everyone even Lance winced a bit.

“Argh! Shut up,” Pidge groaned, holding a hand to her ear, earning a small and much quieter apology from the blue eyed brunet.

Shiro did in fact lock the doors behind them as they left the building. The walk down the hallways felt relatively short and Keith couldn’t help but wonder if it was just him or if time somehow moved differently in different situations. They waited outside where the world was dark and the sounds of cars moving down the roads were the only thing that served company. The night chill was present as if to remind the four that the change of season was nearing.

“My mom is driving us all home,” Hunk explained. “You sure you don’t need a ride, Keith?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Keith assured the other. He remembered Acxa’s text and knew all too well not to bring his friends to the side of town that he resided in anyway.

Hunk frowned a bit as a car pulled up. “Alright. Just make sure you stay warm or wait inside.”

Keith nodded his head only to make the other rest easy.

“See ya Keith!” Lance all but yelled, snapping into Spanish once again. “ _Don’t_ _freeze to death, ok?_ ”

“Got it,” Keith rolled his eyes with a small smile.

“Bye…” Pidge blinked, trailing off sluggishly. Keith wondered if she was shutting down.

“Keith,” Hunk offered helpfully.

“Right...right,” Pidge crawled into the car, flopping onto the seats and closing her eyes.

Keith knew she worked hard. She deserved rest.

After the car drove off, Keith found himself pacing back and forth, watching his shadow move with him under the outer lights lining the school walls and the street lamps on the road.

The ravenette sighed, sitting down on one of the two steps in front of the doorway. He flapped the sleeves of his jacket for a while before he found himself searching for something among the kaleidoscope of lights the cars would make as they passed his line of vision.

He found an odd beauty to it, letting the chill of the wind blow his bangs as he watched the bustling road of the night, a view many people would take for granted having seen it for so long. Keith didn’t think he could ever look away from the sight until the rustle of leaves caught his attention.

He watched them dance in the wind and couldn’t help but compare it to how he would move objects too. The control of the wind. He looked around before bringing one of the leaves to him, catching the red flame which crinkled in his hands. He marveled at the dry leaf before letting it go watching the wind all but carry it away from him.

Keith then noticed a pile near him, a myriad of warm colours against moonlight. He bit his lip, contemplating before moving the leaves as if it was a gust of wind, swirling the leaves around and moving them away and around him. He breathed a laugh as he made the leaves dance like the wind had. After the mass disappeared from view and blew away with the return of an actual gust of wind, a lone leaf landed on his lap.

He remembered Lance’s excited words. How cool he thought telekinesis was. How life would be so much easier with it.

Keith watched as the leaf disintegrated with the simple wish and applied focus of his mind. He let the wind take the remnants, letting the pieces blow away where he didn’t have to bear the pain of seeing them anymore.

 _No_.

He was dangerous. This power he harboured was dangerous. There was nothing _easy_ about living with it.

A honk from Comet startled the ravenette out of his thoughts. He waved at the three waiting in the car, getting inside and letting them begin an expected lengthy conversation on how his day was.

“So how’s the project going?” Acxa asked as she drove.

“Ugh! Of course you’d ask about the project,” Ezor groaned. “What about the friends? How are the friends?”

“I just want to understand what education he’s getting right now,” Acxa grumbled.

“But the more important thing-”

Keith let their voices and bickering fade into the background, leaving an opening for his thoughts to swallow him whole. He watched the world cloaked in night blur as he looked out the window before turning away. He closed his eyes, feigning sleep which was enough to stop the three women from asking him any questions he didn’t feel like answering at the moment. He simply thought back to his friend’s yearning words once again.

_It would be awesome if that stuff was real._

If only he could be that ignorant.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m kind of obsessed with an exaggerated height difference between Keith and Lance because of a certain other fic of theirs in my drafts ☆〜（ゝ。∂）(totally not hinting anything that might come in the possible future). Anyway, I just find the idea of Keith tippy toeing to kiss Lance too adorable to pass up!
> 
> I feel so bad for stressing out my son in this chapter, and I can’t say that it’ll get any easier for him in the next one. And at this point it seems really obvious that Keith doesn’t just have telekinesis, but that’s his main thing. There are small other psychic abilities, but the most powerful thing he has is telekinesis. 
> 
> Also weird side note. When I was editing, I only then realized how much the lights goddamn flicker because of Keith. I’m surprised no one was kind of like “is there something wrong with the electricity today?”


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before he could even react he was pushed. And then falling. 
> 
> It all happened so fast. One second he was standing and the next his body was hitting the water. It was supposed to be a warm temperature to accommodate for the students who used it, but Keith felt his blood run cold as he was engulfed by the all too familiar sensation of drowning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for being MIA for so long! But exam season is finally over and I survived (if surviving means losing half of whatever was left of my soul). 
> 
> Anyways here’s the next chapter which might I add was supposed to be posted earlier but AO3 decided to be a bit of a piece of shit and screw up all my formatting...so I spent the next hour trying to fix everything (including this note) but at least I’ve finally posted it. (Btw for some reason AO3 isn’t letting me italicize anything after the pool scene so I’ll have to edit that later :( )
> 
> As usual enjoy this chapter and thank you for reading!

Keith pulled his satchel out, opening it up and searching through what was left in the mass of papers. He pulled out a pamphlet and more documents.

He looked at the pamphlet first, eyes landing on the all too familiar sounding : Altea Tech. He faltered, pausing for a few seconds. That was Pidge’s dream. To work at Altea Tech.

Keith opened up the folded paper, curious as to see why Lotor had put it in the bag. Maybe he was planning to leave to work there too? He could’ve forgotten a few things before giving it to Keith, since it was his bag after all. The one the ravenette had always seen with him.

He scanned through the pamphlet which advertised the whole company’s main goal and all their accomplishments as of late which included manifesting different energies in environmentally friendly ways to power up machines and lights and remarkable discoveries of newly found creatures and specimens. Keith could definitely see why Pidge wanted to work there. There was no limit to their creativity. Nothing was impossible with science at their hand.

He set the pamphlet down, attention turning to one of the other papers. He managed to read the words “Galra Laboratory” and “Project Paladin” before Ezor was calling him to go eat breakfast. Keith quickly stuffed the papers into the chest, tossing the satchel onto his bed. He closed the chest lightly and made his way out, reminding himself to look at the papers later in the night. He couldn’t quite shake the sinking feeling they gave him. But he hoped it wouldn’t irk him too much for the rest of the day.

— x — x — x — x —

Keith followed Pidge who was quickly walking through the halls, Hunk trying his best to catch up as well. School was over and the second it ended Pidge somehow managed to track him and Hunk down, dragging them with her.

“I wanted to start with ideas and designing today,” Pidge explained and Keith couldn’t help but find her excitement precious.

“Sounds good,” Hunk nodded in agreement.

Keith looked around the clearing halls. “Where’s Lance?”

“That’s where we’re going,” Pidge said. “Lance has swim practise, so we’re gonna have to wait till he’s done.”

“Can we watch for a bit?” Hunk asked. “Lance has been talking about how much faster he’s gotten.”

“Well, we have to time to kill, so why not?” Pidge shrugged. “Besides, I wanted to see if all my calculations on the perfect arc he had to dive in had gone to waste.”

When they entered the pool area, the air felt warm. Keith was tempted to take his sweater off, but felt conscious about the numbers inked on his arm. He kept it on, despite Hunk shrugging off his own hoodie, sitting down on one of the benches lining the wall.

Like everything in this school, the pool appeared to be huge. Keith stared in a bit of awe, sitting next to Hunk whilst watching the water glisten from not only the lights above on the high ceiling, but also the countless large windows lining the opposite wall.

He watched intently as people moved through water. They glided through, creating tiny splashes and ripples that glimmered. It was mesmerizing.

“Look!” Hunk pointed.

Keith could make out Shiro standing amongst a group of teenagers, giving them instructions.

But the ravenette found himself almost immediately averting his eyes. He hadn’t noticed with the glowing water encompassing the swimmers in the pool, but the group was shirtless, donning tight fitting swim shorts, swim caps and goggles. Keith hadn’t really ever seen anyone else half naked or let alone completely naked before.

Pidge seemed to notice. “Keith?”

“Homeschool didn’t teach me everything,” he muttered dryly, before slowly glancing back up.

They were now lining up behind a few lifted platforms, a few climbing on, bending down to grasp the edge with their fingers before awaiting further instruction.

“There! The one in the blue cap,” Hunk described.

Keith’s eyes landed on one of the swimmers on the platforms, stretching a bit, showing off a lean figure, muscle suddenly very obvious with the lack of clothing. Keith found his cheeks heating up, blaming the warmth of the giant room. He patted his cheeks just to make sure he was ok, still unsure of why the odd sensation kept happening to him.

Lance readied himself, holding onto the edge like the others.

Shiro blew a whistle and they all dove into the water.

Somehow through the mass of the pool, Keith could follow the tanned boy’s moving body, gliding through the water with elegance the ravenette had never seen before in the other. He moved with the water. Fluid and graceful movements that were still quick and full of power. Lance swam like he belonged in the water, the light cascading from the large windows illuminating wherever he moved across. Every time his hand hit the water, the ripples would shift the light with it and Keith couldn’t stop himself from watching everything unfold.

“Woo! Go Lance!” Hunk screamed, immediately snapping Keith out of whatever trance he was in before.

“Don’t be second, don’t be second. C’mon Fuentes,” Pidge chanted under her breath, staring intensely at the water, hands clasped together in a semi prayer.

The second Lance’s hand touched the wall they all shot up cheering.

“What are we doing? This is a practise,” Pidge pointed out though she continued to clap.

“I have no idea,” Hunk laughed nervously, sitting down quickly as the swim team turned to look at them questioningly.

They sat through the rest of the practice occasionally cheering on Lance whenever he had a turn in the water. Keith thought it was silly, but a part of him felt free just from watching the other swim with such ease.

Finally after a few more motivational words from their young coach, Shiro, they were dismissed and Lance quickly made his way to the three. He pulled off his swim goggles and blue swim cap, shaking his head a bit in attempts to even out his dishevelled hair. Keith felt his cheeks warm again at the other’s excited smile, though he chose to ignore it.

“Ok. I’ll have to change real quick and then we can get started,” Lance grinned.

“Alright, let’s hurry up then,” Pidge clapped her hands anticipatingly.

“Dude, that was so cool,” Hunk nudged the tan boy. “You were so fast!”

“Thanks, man,” Lance breathed a laugh. “It was pretty cool wasn’t it?”

Keith trailed a bit behind them, watching the others talk amongst themselves. The ocean blue eyed boy’s laughter followed and the twinge of familiarity struck the ravenette once more. He shook his head lightly. He was probably mistaken anyway. He chose to focus on the glistening water by his side in attempts to distract himself.

Keith’s arm was suddenly grabbed roughly and he was looking into Alex’s sneering face once more. A small part of him expected the swimmer to say a few choice words, but he knew deep down that the other didn’t have much else to tell him.

Before he could even react he was pushed. And then falling.

It all happened so fast. One second he was standing and the next his body was hitting the water. It was supposed to be a warm temperature to accommodate for the students who used it, but Keith felt his blood run cold as he was engulfed by the all too familiar sensation of drowning.

He was suddenly back in the lab as he laid on his back staring at iridescent lights, waiting. Waiting for them to open the hatch and drop him. Waiting for those same lights to blur beneath the water once he fell in.

It was all the same, sinking lower into the pool, lights somewhat muddled. This time, there was more weight due to his clothes, making his futile thrashing sluggish.

Panic. Panic. Panic.

He couldn’t do anything to calm himself. He was in the lab. He was in the pool. He was _drowning_.

The water was shifting around him as his mind struggled with what to do to get him _out_. To save him. He let his eyes close as they burned.

Then there were a pair of strong arms around his waist and someone was pulling him up and out of the water.

When he was lifted back onto the floor and coughing and wheezing, someone he somehow immediately identified as Hunk wrapped a towel around him, kneeling by his side with a face etched with far more than worry.

Through his botched vision he could make out his two other friends confronting the athlete who had nearly killed him.

“You shoved him!” Pidge yelled, unintimidated by their clear height difference.

“Not my fault the idiot fell. I didn’t touch him,” Alex denied, putting his hands up defensively as if he was being accused of something he didn’t do.

The sound of someone rising from the water startled Keith as he turned to see Shiro climb up from the pool. So he had been the one to save him. He should’ve guessed.

“Alex,” the man started eerily calm.

“Look, Coach. I swear I didn’t do anything,” Alex started.

Shiro began to walk to the crowd as Alex began to continuously ramble on excuses.

Keith glanced back to the pool and to his horror found tiny cracks lining the ledge, slowly trailing down to the pool floor. Like an intricate web of vines except one stemmed from his own mind, scarring the tile. They weren’t too awfully noticeable, but were there nonetheless. Once everyone actually shifted their attention away from the scene, they’d surely be able to see them.

He did this. He pulled the towel closer to himself, but still managed to shiver.

People were only gathering because they were too curious. They wanted to see if a fight would ensure or if Alex would get in any serious trouble. And although Keith tried to position his seated body in front of where the broken tile started, he knew he had to get the majority of them out of there. And in order to do that he had to end the scene.

“I tripped,” he said suddenly, hesitating a bit when he felt everyone’s eyes land on him. _No_. He could do it. “I tripped and fell.”

His gaze shifted from face to face, seeing shared confusion amongst them all, but more so in the very last person he so happened to see. Alex. He was no doubt shocked when Keith covered up what he had done. The ravenette did not forgive or excuse the other’s actions, glaring slightly to serve as a warning, but he didn’t want to have to deal with another problem stemmed between them. Especially with Shiro being involved. Again.

“Shows over,” Pidge finally exclaimed, shooing the crowd of students. She didn’t seem too pleased with Alex getting off the hook, but didn’t say another word about it.

When a few people lingered, Lance scoffed before yelling, “She said scram idiots!”

Those very few immediately dispersed, Alex hesitantly included.

“Do any of you have any extra clothes?” Shiro asked.

“I might have something,” Hunk replied quickly. “Not too sure he’ll fit though.”

“I probably have some stuff too,” Lance chimed in.

“Good. You two go grab those clothes,” Shiro instructed.

The two nodded their heads and set out. Pidge spluttered before immediately chasing after them. “Lance, you idiot! You’re supposed to change first!”

Keith held his breath as he was unfortunately left alone with Shiro who like the kind soul he is helped the silent teen back onto his two feet. He felt the teacher’s observing gaze on him. He was considering jumping back into the pool if it meant possibly avoiding the conversation he sensed coming.

“Are you alright?” Shiro asked.

“I’m fine,” Keith said. “I guess I can’t swim...surprise?”

“Keith,” Shiro began and the ravenette braced for what he knew was coming. “Why did you lie?”

The ravenette brushed a few wet locks behind his hair, watching the water drip to the floor. He subconsciously looked back to the cracks on the floor, shifting to stand a bit in front of them. He hoped that the teacher didn’t notice the subtle movements though his gray eyes were calculating.

“He probably had no idea I couldn’t swim,” Keith explained. “And I didn’t feel the need to cause a scene or anything.”

He sort of wanted to shove Alex right back into the pool in return, but had to refrain from voicing his true feelings towards the situation. His fear was overriding any anger he had surprisingly.

“Just know that if he bothers you again-” Shiro started.

“I know, I know,” Keith tried a small smile, but wondered if it ended up looking pained or forced. “I can come to you about it.”

“And I seriously mean it,” Shiro sighed a bit.

Keith fixed the most likely soaked towel around him. He needed to focus on his friends and his team. If he wanted to help Pidge, they had to work hard and win gold. And in order for that to happen, he couldn’t afford distractions like dealing with Alex and Carson.

“I’m gonna bench Alex this swim season,” Shiro exclaimed.

Keith’s eyes widened, sputtering all too quickly, “Wait, what? No, you shouldn’t.”

“This is the second incident,” Shiro pointed out. “He’s always been quite a handful during practises as well.”

“Nothing too serious has happened yet,” Keith retorted.

“Except you nearly drowning,” Shiro deadpanned.

“Again, he wasn’t intending to kill me. He didn’t know,” Keith persisted.

“Even if it was a practical joke, it put you in danger and harm,” the teacher explained sternly. “He’s lucky I’m not bringing any parents into this. Because you seem so against it, benching him from the teams he’s on should be punishment enough.” 

“One more chance,” Keith breathed. “Give him one more chance. If he screws it up one more time, then bench him. But not right now. Right now, I can’t…”

Can’t deal with it all.

Shiro somehow sensed the distress Keith was trying to conceal the best he could. The taller man sighed, rubbing his temple before coming to his final decision. “Alright. Alex gets one more shot.”

Keith although relieved could feel that Shiro was not happy about letting what happened slide.

In attempts to avoid more eye contact that would only result in Shiro practically seeing through his soul with how much of an open book he was, Keith found himself glancing at the teacher’s prosthetic.

“Your arm!” the ravenette found himself saying a bit too loudly. “The water...is it ok?”

“Oh,” Shiro moved the prosthetic with ease, letting out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, it’s fine. Ma—my friend who made it made sure it was practically indestructible.”

Keith tried not to stare at the metal arm for too long. The indestructible tended to become destructible around him.

As if on cue, the other three arrived. Hunk was carrying a pile of fresh and dry clothes while Lance was struggling to quickly pull on his shirt and adjust the half tied shoes on his feet. Pidge was mumbling something about him being a moron as she followed them.

“Special clothes delivery!” Lance declared.

“Dry up and change,” Shiro said. “Take care of yourself, Keith. And make sure to finish your English homework.”

Keith nodded his head firmly before reaching his friends. He chose to change in the washroom quickly as he didn’t want to waste too much of the time they needed with the science fair project.

He looked into the washroom mirror and the ensemble he was now wearing. The pants he had on now were no doubt Lance’s. The ravenette had to roll up the ends in order for them to really fit. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that the shirt he was wearing which fit him loosely was only short sleeved. His eyes fell to the numbers on his arm, so visible and exposed.

Keith didn’t want to waste more time, taking a deep breath and opting to cover it with his hand as he walked out to meet the others waiting for him.

“Ok, we’re gonna bus to my house,” Pidge informed everyone. “We’ll be working there.”

“Cool,” Hunk smiled.

Keith kept his hand over the tattoo on his forearm which caught Lance’s attention fairly quickly. The brunet was far more observant than Keith had honestly expected of him.

“Are you cold?” Lance asked before offering, “You can take my jacket.”

The taller shrugged off the green jacket, passing it to Keith who thanked him. He put on the garment which was way too long for his arms, but having it cover the numbers made him feel much more relieved. The warmth it provided was a bonus as well.

Pidge turned to look at him with a knowing smirk while Hunk chuckled a bit himself much to Keith’s confusion. Lance who was usually the most talkative was babbling gibberish as he smacked the two, face red.

The bus trip was mostly uneventful besides the fact that Keith kept Lance’s hood over him to hide most of his facial features. He couldn’t risk anything on public transport. Unfortunately, Lance seemed to notice.

“Mystery trying to be more mysterious again?” Lance asked with a smirk.

“Force of habit,” Keith shrugged.

“To wear your hood like your in assassin’s creed?” Lance asked.

“Hiding my face I guess?” Keith offered.

“Now why would anyone with a face like yours want to hide it?” Lance said in all seriousness, oblivious to how it sounded.

Keith felt confused by the other’s words, yet at the same time the weird warmth rising to flush his cheeks returned once again. He blamed the jacket. There was no other plausible explanation.

“Damn, Lance,” Hunk smiled. “That one was smooth.”

“Wait—I didn’t mean to...you know,” Lance fumbled with his words as Hunk and Pidge shared a laugh. “Whatever, I’m taking it. I’ll admit I’m pretty damn smooth.” 

“Ok lover birds, this one’s our stop,” Pidge exclaimed, getting up from her seat.

“Screw you,” Lance muttered earning another laugh from the girl who wasn’t insulted in the slightest.

Pidge lead the three through the streets, entering a nice neighbourhood much different from the alleyways Keith was used to before finally turning to her home.

“This is Pidge’s castle,” Hunk gestured with a smile.

“More like her bird’s nest,” Lance coughed earning Pidge’s death glare.

Keith turned to get a better look at Pidge’s house while Lance pretended to be a pigeon and Pidge chased him around frustratedly.

It was huge, but then again his interpretation was most likely inaccurate due to his lack of knowledge when it came to sizeable living spaces. When they entered the house, Keith felt like the interior was seemingly larger. He didn’t have enough time to really take in everything there was to see before the sound of loud barking startled him out of his thoughts.

“Bae Bae sit! Down!” Pidge said sternly to an energetic biscuit coloured dog who only continued to gleefully wag their tail amidst sitting down as commanded.

“He’s either excited because Hunk and Lance are here or because he’s never met Keith before,” Pidge explained, rubbing the dog’s ears with a small smile.

The dog’s doe eyes appeared to only focus on Keith who only tensed at the attention. He was sure the smaller animal could sense the ravenette’s growing fear as he remembered the countless numbers of poor creatures the laboratory would bring in. 

Sometimes they would be nice and only ask for him to try to communicate or calm the animals which was one of the only times he ever enjoyed being taken out of the room that once confined him. Other times he was given the ultimatum to test his abilities with taking lives or suffer from his refusal. It’s happened for so long he doesn’t even remember how many times he’s gone through both of those options.

The picture frames that sat so innocently on display near the front door seemed to react to his jitteriness first. They rattled ever so lightly against the walls. Bae Bae seemed to be the only other being to notice, tilting his head at first before beginning to bark frantically.

“Bae Bae shhhh!” Pidge rubbed the dog gently to no apparent avail.

Bae Bae was too focused on the picture frames on the veer of potentially flying off the wall to listen to Pidge’s attempts to soothe him. Keith was trying his best to stay calm. Calm. 

Calm, of course!

The ravenette knelt down in front of the beige coloured dog, rubbing it gently.

Pidge seemed to move out of the way in curiosity while Keith closed his eyes and tried his best to keep a surreal feeling of serenity, hoping to send Bae Bae in a much more peaceful state. He had probably sensed Keith’s telekinesis acting up and was either confused by it or deeply frightened by it. For his own sake, he hoped it was the former. 

Hunk and Lance were too caught up in their own conversation to notice. The only person watching was Pidge which only unnerved Keith. She was extremely observant and analytical. If he made even the slightest wrong move, even with no one even considering the possibility of him having these powers, it would almost feel like game over. However, she didn’t seem to be watching Keith like he was behind a glass window under the watchful eyes of a scientist. She looked on with a surprising smile, watching Bae Bae wag his tail happily. 

“C’mon we should go work on the project now,” Pidge said suddenly. She began to lead them all away to presumably the workshop she promised she’d take them to the other day.

Bae Bae followed, trailing behind Keith who was pretending not to notice the dog which was hard to do when he would pretty much crash into his legs if Keith happened to stop. They continued down to a garage like area that held machines and what appeared to be boxes of material on the floors and on countless shelves, stacked high up to the brim.

Pidge pulled out a large piece of paper before setting it down on a worn looking workshop table. 

“Let’s start with a blueprint,” the shorter girl explained, already beginning to sketch out a design.

The rest of the three took a seat around the table, observing intently. Bae Bae nudged Keith’s leg before settling down underneath the table contently.

“So here’s what I was thinking,” Pidge explained. “I don’t know. Does it seem too clunky?”

“Hm. Why don’t we use a smaller sort of accelerator. This kind of looks like we’re about to rip somebody’s brain out,” Hunk shuddered at the thought.

“True...Oh! I got it!” Pidge basically skipped over to a bin, fishing out a few small compartments, aqua blue and white. “My brother brought some of these from Altea Tech. Their lightweight and do wonders sending analytical data if we just connect it to one of my generators.”

The mention of Altea Tech reminded Keith of the pamphlet he found earlier. He still had no idea what relation any of it had to him or even Lotor. His friend always had fifty plans with fifty more backups ready to go if he ever needed them, so maybe it was safe to assume that Lotor was only thinking ahead like he always did.

“—Keith?” 

“Hm?” the ravenette felt his face heat up a bit from embarrassment. He didn’t exactly mean to zone out like that.

“We were wondering if you had any ideas on how this should function,” Pidge explained.

Keith looked at the basic sketch along with the materials currently scattered on the table. He thought back to the devices he had been hooked onto, trying to find certain distinct materials that he remembered. 

“Let me see. I think I have something in mind,” he mumbled, making his way to the array of devices, gadgets and materials in the many boxes aligning the floor and walls.

As he scavenged for certain parts, Lance piped in suddenly, “Guys we need a name for this thing.”

“We can just name it after what it technically is,” Pidge said. “The ‘Psychological Advanced Data Processor or Collector of Cognition.’”

“Pidgey, that’s a mouthful,” Lance shook his head. “Even you can’t repeat it.”

“The ‘Psychological Advanced Data Processor or Collector of Cognition,’” Pidge repeated with a shrug.

“Ok, witchcraft,” Lance accused.

“You know I don’t believe in witchcraft, Lance,” Pidge rolled her eyes with a small smile. “Science is the only valid explanation for anything.”

Keith grabbed a few pieces, muttering about how he would love to know how science explained his freaky ass abilities.

“What was that Keith?” Lance asked.

“Nothing!” said ravenette sputtered. “I just found the materials I was looking for.”

He hurried over to place them on the table, sitting back down before he could finish yelling at himself to shut up.

“Sweet. This’ll work,” Pidge examined all that was in front of her, placing items next to one another as if she was already piecing the device together. “We’ll have to do a few adjustments but after that…” 

“We’ll be golden!” Lance finished excitedly.

“Hunk come help me start welding some of these metal pieces,” Pidge hugged all the materials to her chest like a child happily carrying her most prized possessions, awkwardly waddling over towards one of the machines in the massive workshop.

“Sure thing,” Hunk got up to help the shorter girl, leaving Lance and Keith by themselves. With Bae Bae of course.

“So while they’re off doing that, we should come up with a name,” Lance rubbed his hands together with a grin. “So how about-”

“No,” Keith said flatly. 

“Dude, I didn’t even say it yet,” Lance complained.

“Whatever it was, it probably wasn’t good,” Keith shrugged.

“Okay, Mind Tracer 3000 is a pretty damn cool name,” Lance grumbled.

“Why 3000?” Keith had to ask.

“It’s to make it sound cool. Like all those scientists in the movies and TV shows,” Lance explained. “For effect you know?”

Keith in all honesty didn’t but he rolled with it.

“Ok, why don’t we keep it simple,” Keith tried.

“The ‘Psychological Advanced Data Processor or Collector of Cognition!’” Pidge yelled from across the room.

“No!” Lance screamed.

“Tough crowd,” Hunk breathed.

“I was thinking more of an acronym for something,” Keith tried again.

“Ok, so we’ll need something that’ll catch attention but also I guess sound sciencey enough for Pidge,” Lance rubbed his chin as if he was in deep thought.

Keith tried to think of something that sounded remotely creative but much to his frustration couldn’t come up with anything. As if sensing his frustration and stress, Bae Bae grazed his leg, looking up at him expectantly. He wanted to be pet. 

Keith decided he’d give the dog what he wanted as he brainstormed. 

“I got it!” Lance exclaimed suddenly. “Psychological Advanced Cognition Machine of Analyzed Neuroactivity.”

“Lance, no,” Pidge said after a few seconds of realization.

“Lance, yes!” the tall brunet yelled back.

“PACMAN?” Keith raised an eyebrow in slight confusion, rubbing behind Bae Bae’s ears.

“Oh my god, can we do that?” Hunk asked Pidge excitedly as if he were a young child asking for permission from their parent.

“It’s the greatest idea ever, am I right, Hunk?” Lance grinned.

“I never loved you more than in this moment. I’m so proud,” Hunk pretended to wipe tears from his eyes.

“C’m here, you!” Lance ran across the room with his arms spread out as Hunk did the same. The two friends embraced each other in the middle of the workshop.

“Keith save me,” Pidge nearly pleaded. “I’m surrounded by idiots.”

“Sorry, Pidge,” Keith tried to hold back a laugh. “Your dog is holding me hostage.”

“Bae Bae is really starting to love you more than me,” Pidge glared at the dog who was oblivious to his owner’s wafting anger. “How could he betray me like this?”

“Top 10-” Lance began.

“Nope. No more…” Pidge gestured her arms. “That. Hunk get back over here and help me. Keith can you grab the metal compartment from off that shelf. And Lance…” 

“PACMAN?” the brunet said hopefully.

“I can’t believe I am saying this, but Lance write that name down and start working on a description of the device,” Pidge sighed earning an excited cheer from the ecstatic teen. 

After two hours or so of diligent work, they were all a heap on the workshop floor, Bae Bae still softly trotting around them. 

“You think we did enough for today?” Hunk asked, sitting up when he found Pidge already hurrying back to work after her little break.

“Pidge you should really take a break. Like a real long one,” Lance called after the other. “You’re going to over work yourself here.” 

“I wanna get this thing done before school tomorrow, so we can make adjustments and test it out,” Pidge explained whilst drilling into the contrapment they had built so far. 

“Pidge,” Hunk tried again. “Don’t burn yourself out alright?”

“Who says I’m burning out?” the brunette huffed, aggressively slamming a screw into place.

“Pidgey-” Lance started.

“What?!” Pidge snapped, spinning around with a screwdriver in hand.

“Ok, put down the screwdriver,” Lance said cautiously. “You doing alright? You seem pretty stressed out about this whole project.” 

“Ugh, I know,” Pidge sighed, placing the screwdriver gently on the table.

Hunk patted on the floor next to him which Pidge eagerly moved to sit down on. “I’m just...I just really want this to work, you know? It’s probably stupid. Not everyone has their whole future planned step by step.”

“But I...I really want this dream of mine,” Pidge continued. “And if I screw up now…”

“You’re gonna be alright,” Hunk squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. “You shouldn’t shift all the stress and workload on to yourself. This is a team effort, remember?”

“Yeah, we’re all in this together,” Lance smiled. “And I’m not quoting High School Musical. Unless you want me to.”

Bae Bae walked over to snuggle Pidge, sensing her distress. She laughed, rubbing the dog affectionately behind his ears.

“Thanks guys,” Pidge breathed. “I’ll try to take a deep breath and you know...not push myself too hard.”

Keith couldn’t help but feel the warmth of happiness, of even love when he watched the scene unfold before him. Three friends sitting side by side, emitting such a bond that felt unbreakable between them. He felt more like an outsider watching them from afar—maybe he was.

Not wanting to disturb the heartfelt moment, Keith decided to check his phone from his bag, turning it on only to find hundreds of worried messages from his three guardians. Almost as if planned, his phone was buzzing from yet another phone call which was only naturally from Acxa.

“Hello,” he answered softly only to get an earful of scoldings on the other line.

“You said 7! Do you know what time it is now?!” Acxa yelled. Keith didn’t need to check after she answered for him. “It’s 9! Nearly 10.”

“Sorry,” Keith apologized. “Lost track of time.”

“You made us worried sick. You wouldn’t pick up or answer the phone. We thought you…” Acxa trailed off before sighing. “Everything’s okay as long as you are. Just text us the address, we’re gonna pick you up now, alright?”

“Alright,” Keith said softly before apologizing again.

“I’ll warn you now, Ezor and Zethrid are going to give you one hell of a lecture in the car,” Acxa murmured. 

“Aren’t you usually the one who gives lectures?” Keith teased half heartedly.

“Lucky for you, I’ll count this phone call as mine,” he could hear her small smile from the phone. “Ok. You wait for us in the house, alright?” 

“Understood,” Keith said with a small smile. He placed his phone gently away after quickly sending the address.

“Sorry, guys,” he said. “I have to go soon.”

“What?!” Lance exclaimed. “It’s only like 10!”

“And what time would you normally leave?” Keith couldn’t help but ask.

“I don’t know. Midnight?” Lance shrugged. “When we’re in group projects together, we’d finish a hard day’s work with a movie or something.”

“Lance and I crash here a lot so the Holts actually have some of our stuff stored away for when we sleepover,” Hunk explained.

That seemed nice. To grow close enough as friends to have them leave belongings over knowing they would be over quite often.

“It’s fun. We get a little hectic sometimes, but my parents don’t mind too much knowing I’m not a loner,” Pidge couldn’t hold back her smile.

“Aw. Pidgey loves us,” Lance cooed.

“Shut up,” Pidge rolled her eyes in denial.

“You know if Bae Bae wasn’t in the way, I’d totally tackle you right now,” Lance remarked. 

“And that’s why Bae Bae is here. He knows that he needs to protect me,” Pidge gloated. 

And like the little traitor he was, Bae Bae chose this particular moment to saunter away to circle around Keith.

“Bae Bae, no! You little-”

“Tackle!” Lance screamed in unison to Pidge’s cries of detest as he glomped the smaller girl into a crushing hug.

“Now, now. This is still a workshop you two,” Hunk began. “It’s dangerous just you know body slamming into people-”

“Tackle!” Lance lunged at the unsuspecting Hunk who screamed in response.

“And that’s what happens when you try to care for your friends’ safety,” Pidge adjusted her glasses with a huff. “So lesson learned. Just don’t do that.”

“Pidge, help me!” Hunk cried.

“Um, you know he’ll just smother me again,” Pidge pointed out.

“Keith, save me!” Hunk struggled. 

“That’s smart, Hunk. Play the Keith card,” Pidge snickered.

“Keith card?” Keith questioned.

“Yeah. You know Lance will never tackle you in a million years without you know dying from embarrassment,” Pidge stated matter of factly.

“Uh, excuse me!” Lance got off of Hunk instantly. “I can too.”

“Ok prove it hot shot,” Pidge challenged.

Keith raised an eyebrow as Lance stood up straight, dusting his clothes.

“Keith, I’m gonna tackle you now,” Lance cleared his throat, puffing out his chest as if to show bravery.

Pidge and Hunk burst into laughter as Lance told them to shut up.

“Where’s the actual battle cry, sharpshooter?” Pidge couldn’t help but tease.

Lance groaned, glaring at Pidge before he began to charge towards Keith, “Tackle!”

Keith immediately stepped out of the way. “Shoelaces.”

Sorry, Acxa.

Lance flailed as he barely managed to catch himself from falling on his face. He spun around pointing accusingly at Keith. “You! Cheating with witchcraft!”

“Don’t believe in witchcraft, remember?” Pidge rolled her eyes, unimpressed. 

“I mean, it could’ve existed at a certain point of time right?” Hunk scratched his neck absentmindedly. “I mean it’s a possibility.” 

“We are not going over this again, Hunk,” the shorter brunette sighed.

The sudden buzz of Keith’s phone was his memo that his three very angry, worried and relieved guardians were in Pidge’s driveway.

He waved his phone with a nervous smile. “Sorry guys. I gotta go now.” 

“Boo!” Lance shouted. “Leaving the party early.” 

“Let a guy live, Lance,” Hunk playfully shoved him.

“We’re the life of the party, buddy,” Lance smirked. “No better place to live.”

“Oh, got me there,” Hunk laughed. “That one was good.”

“No,” Pidge sighed. “No, it wasn’t.”

“Leave now while you can,” she advised. “We’ll continue our game plan tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll be able to start it up and running.”

“Ok, see you guys tomorrow,” Keith tried to say the proper farewells he heard others usually use. He wasn’t sure if it worked with him.

Bae Bae ran over to say his goodbye as well, licking Keith’s hand after he gave him one more pat.

“I’ll see you later too, Bae Bae,” the ravenette smiled softly before making his way up the stairs.

The instant he got into the pickup truck he was getting an earful. Acxa wasn’t kidding. Ezor and Zethrid were going all out on him.

“You didn’t think to call or text once. Once this whole entire night!” Ezor scolded. “I’ve taught you better phone use than this!”

“We thought you were taken again. I was ready to bust some faces, but the fact that they may have gotten you made me sick, squirt,” Zethrid explained.

“I’m sorry guys,” Keith apologized. “I should’ve been more responsible.”

“Ah it’s ok. I wish I could be angrier, but I can’t stay mad at someone as adorable as you,” Ezor admitted. 

“Adorable?” Keith nearly squeaked.

“Besides you were probably too busy having fun with your friends,” Ezor pointed out. “I can’t blame you for living a little and losing track of time.”

“Just make sure you don’t do it again,” Zethrid added, ruffling his hair.

“Understood,” Keith promised.

“Good,” Ezor smiled. “Now would you like to tell me what you’re wearing? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cute jacket, but-”

Keith immediately looked down at the jacket he was still wearing. Still engulfing him in warmth. He forgot to give it back to Lance. 

“Shit.”

“Language,” Acxa deadpanned as she made a left turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing that excited me most about this chapter was the pool/drowning scene. I had been itching to write that scene ever since the beginning of this story d(^_^o). I have watched all the seasons of VLD and I won’t make further comment on the latest season (a lot happened 0 - 0) 
> 
> Anyways, I’m working on the next chap as we speak, but alas I can make no promises of when the next update will be. As always, thank you so much for reading and pls comment. I’m trying this thing where I actually reply to them now that I am free from school XD.
> 
> (Side note : the mean girls broadway musical soundtrack is great)


	6. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There’s nothing interesting about me,” the shorter tried again.
> 
> “And yet you have three new friends permanently attached to you,” Lance offered a knowing smirk. “You’re a lot more special than you think you are, mullet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! Here is another update! 
> 
> School has started up again, so keeping up with writing will be difficult. I hope you guys understand. Nonetheless I will try my best to continue writing stories I enjoy <3 
> 
> Anyways, back to the regular program where Keith struggles and the team is oblivious to it. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Happy reading!

Lotor sat impatiently, dreading the conversation that was inevitably about to unfold. The faint ticks of the clock filled what would’ve been utter silence. He didn’t know whether or not it was keeping him grounded or driving him mad. The sound of the office door opening was worse.

 

“As you know, we’ll be going over what happened the day of 1023’s escape,” Honerva relayed the information with an empty tone, no greeting of course.

 

Even Lotor could tell through her current appearance and the slight lilt in her voice that this situation was taking a toll on her. Maybe it was just him being sadistic, but he took a second to savour her suffering.

 

“Now tell me what happened,” Honerva ordered. “Every detail is crucial. The subject _did_ destroy surveillance cameras.”

 

Lotor took a second to think about what to say. He couldn’t raise suspicion here, so it appeared this was his ultimate test. He was sitting nearly 3 feet away from her. One slight wrong move and even she through her worn out state could sense something was off.

 

“I arrived for my usual shift. I was going to transfer a few documents to the filing room,” Lotor explained, looking straight into dull amber eyes. He had to keep a believable amount of eye contact. “There was...a thud and loud commotion further down the halls so I hurried to check what was happening.”

 

Honerva began to scribble some notes down, giving Lotor enough time to put up a front through practised ease. Lying to her face wasn’t anything too new. He just had a lot more at stake this time around.

 

“That’s when I caught him about to escape,” he continued. “He threw me against a wall...and then he was gone.”

 

“Do you remember anything else?” Honerva asked, still writing down every word he said.

 

“It happened so fast…” Lotor murmured. “I don’t remember anything else happening.”

 

“I see,” the hag sighed. She sat up, sipping from her cup of cold coffee.

 

“How about his behaviour when you were working with him,” she asked. “You were the closest person in this lab to the subject.”

 

“1023 was very obedient. He followed all my instructions and was never out of line,” Lotor answered. “He didn’t appear to be any opposing threat.”

 

“Fascinating. 1023 was secretly planning to escape this whole entire time, putting up a flawless act that not even _you_ could see through,” Honerva said, intrigued.

 

Lotor felt his heart stop. It was over. She saw through his act.

 

“These subjects are more intelligent than we give them credit for. It’s incredible,” Honerva laughed in awe. “Even when he’s escaped, 1023 is giving us very crucial information.”

 

The crazed sparkle seemed to appear in her eyes again, like a dying flame bursting to life again. It was unsettling.

 

“I must work off of this observation,”she clapped her hands together. “You can leave now deary.”

 

Lotor shifted in his seat slightly, unnerved by her sudden change in demeanour.

 

“You’re...not going to assign me more work?” he couldn’t help but ask.

 

Honerva’s excitement seemed to dim at the words. She frowned, turning to look at the brunet.

 

“Of course not. All of our efforts should be on finding 1023,” she stated sternly. “The lab won’t be focusing on anything until we manage to bring him back.”

 

Lotor got up from his seat, “Understood.”

 

He left the office calmly, walking further into the lab to an empty restroom. Only then could he feel like he could breathe properly again. He splashed water on his face, a familiar scene, and before he could stop himself he was laughing.

 

A weight was almost seamlessly lifted off his shoulders. He managed to lie completely to her face and with that Akira would be safe just a little longer. He felt like he was going crazy, laughing like a lunatic in a laboratory washroom of all places. Eventually his state of delirium faded and he was only left with unease.

 

Honerva had the right to be amused when she believed someone had managed to deceive him so up close. After all, he could already tell something was off with the way she dismissed the opportunity to throw him at another subject. Her response was stiff and rushed, almost as if she didn’t want him to pry further.

 

It was odd. She practically threw him at another subject the second his first one died. So why didn’t she say anything this time around. The lab’s focus was surely on finding Akira again, but even then he would assume that his father and Honerva’s love for the lab and the scientific milestones they could achieve with other projects and experiments would keep lab activity up and running.

 

Something wasn’t right. And Lotor already understood that a lot wasn’t right with this lab. It was a sick, cruel place. And yet he felt like whatever they were deliberately hiding could be much worse.

 

He tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, looking down at the sink with dread. Whatever she was so intent on hiding, he was going to figure it out.

 

— x — x — x — x —

 

“Keith!”

 

Said ravenette turned around, just a bit startled.

 

“You left this,” Shiro explained, waving a book with a small smile.

 

“Oh,” Keith blinked. “Sorry.”

 

“Nothing to worry about,” the teacher said reassuringly. “I was a bit surprised to see a book of Japanese poetry.”

 

“Oh yeah...I study the language a little bit,” Keith explained.

 

“Well either that little bit of studying is really helping or you’re just trying to be humble,” Shiro breathed a laugh. “This is some A grade level literature. Even I would be a little rusty reading all this.”

 

“Really?” Keith raised an eyebrow.

 

“Why do you think I became an English teacher?” Shiro pointed out. “I find myself only slipping into my mother tongue when I’m really stressed and need to calm down. And it’s definitely not this kind of literature’s level let me tell you that.”

 

“Around this time of year these hallways clear out fast,” he observed. “It’s nice to see everyone working hard on their science projects. So I’ll stop being the teacher who’s holding you back from where you’re supposed to be.”

 

Shiro passed the book back, his metal hand brushing Keith’s fingertips during the exchange.

 

The ravenette was suddenly hit by a huge wave of panic and fear. Flashes of red blurred his vision as the sounds of crashes echoed through his ears. The thuds continued pounding into his skull relentlessly until his body and mind came to. The only sound left echoing was the poetry book hitting the ground.

 

“Are you alright?” Shiro asked worriedly. He reached for the boy with his metal prosthetic.

 

Keith ducked down quickly to avoid the contact, picking up the book.

 

“I’m fine. Just clumsy and stupid that’s all,” Keith said hurriedly. He didn’t know quite yet what had just happened, but whatever it was he knew he wouldn’t be able to handle any of Shiro’s confrontations without cracking.

 

“Keith,” Shiro began. Keith couldn’t risk letting the taller male continue his sentence. Any form of reassurance would only keep the ravenette standing there longer.

 

“I really have to go right now. Sorry,” the ravenette exclaimed, walking down the empty hall a lot faster than anyone normally would.

 

At this point he knew how unnatural everything seemed to the teacher, but no excuse would ever fix it. Keith couldn’t risk blowing up in front of the other, so it was best to avoid interactions with Shiro for the time being. Which would be very difficult considering the fact the man _was_ his English teacher.

 

Usually visions reached him in his dreams, not when he was conscious and fully aware of everything around him. Whatever it was, he had to push it aside for the time being. His friends were waiting for him and he didn’t want them to notice there was something irking him.

 

Luckily, Pidge was too eager to get back to work, ushering them out to the bus stop within the second Keith was in arm-pulling distance, so nobody noticed his slight discomfort for the time being.

 

Pidge was currently tapping her foot impatiently, peering at the road to check for any incoming buses. Of course, there were none as there had been for the past three minutes. She had been checking every twenty seconds for these whole three minutes, glaring at the passing cars in frustration.

 

“It’s taking too damn long!” she hissed.

 

“It’s only been three minutes Pidge,” Hunk reasoned much to the grumpy, shorter girl’s displeasure.

 

Keith took their wait as his chance to return Lance’s jacket, remembering when he noticed him wearing a different sweater. He pulled out a bag from his backpack and handed it over to the unsuspecting taller boy.

 

“Here’s your jacket. Acx—my mom washed it last night, so it should be okay,” Keith explained, even bowing his head in shame slightly. “And sorry for basically stealing it yesterday.”

 

Lance hugged the bag to his chest with a lighthearted laugh, squishing the jacket as if it was some new gift. “No need to be hung up over it. Friends lend friends stuff all the time.”

 

Keith ignored his heart fluttering at the thought of someone calling him a friend. He still had to get used to having those. Being considered one at that too.

 

“But it was nice of you to return it the very next day,” Lance admitted. He suddenly spoke louder, “Not all friends _do_ that, if you catch my drift.”

 

“Lance, if you’re talking about your Gameboy, I told you I’d find it soon,” Hunk sighed, having overheard the passive aggressive tone in the brunet’s side comment. “I know it’s somewhere in my room.”

 

“Dude, it’s been two years,” Lance groaned.

 

“And I will find it,” Hunk repeated determinedly.

 

“In two years,” Pidge snorted.

 

“You were complaining about not having buses that could be controlled by your mind five seconds ago, young lady,” Hunk pointed out. “You can’t mock me after that!”

 

Keith tried to ignore the whole entire moving buses with your mind comment, letting his hood disguise hide his frown. Well sorta.

 

“Mystery mysterious hood again?” Lance teased.

 

“Correct,” Keith nodded slightly, sinking the hood slightly lower.

 

“Now that isn’t fair,” Lance pointed out. “How will your friends recognize you if you hide yourself like that?”

 

“Um, I’ve never really had friends till now, so that has never been much of a problem,” Keith shrugged indifferently.

 

“Wow,” Lance blinked, shaking his head slowly. “That is the saddest thing I’ve heard all day.”

 

“Does that answer your whole mysterious spiel?” Keith bit the inside of his cheek. “I’m just a loner. Not much of a mystery.”

 

“Everyone’s a bit of a mystery,” Lance retorted. “You’re just the most interesting.”

 

It was the same pattern. Unexplainable warming cheeks. He’d deny the blush till the day he died.

 

“There’s nothing interesting about me,” the shorter tried again.

 

“And yet you have three new friends permanently attached to you,” Lance offered a knowing smirk. “You’re a lot more special than you think you are, mullet.”

 

Keith blinked, thinking over the other’s words.

 

He eyed the taller boy who was now checking for any sign of a bus, already knowing Keith had nothing else to respond to that. Lance was a whole lot smarter than most people gave him credit for. Sure it may have not been an academic book smart like Pidge or Hunk, but he had a much better understanding of the world and the people around him than most would believe at first glance.

 

Keith guessed he was one of the many fools who misjudged him.

 

“Bus!” Pidge suddenly screamed. Lance nearly dropped the bag with his jacket.

 

— x — x — x — x —

 

They arrived back at Pidge’s alleged castle or nest. Whatever you wanted to call it. Keith was almost instantly met with a happy Bae Bae who snuggled up against his leg.

 

“Traitor,” Pidge muttered to the clueless dog as she walked past them to head to the workshop.

 

“It’s nice to see you too, Bae Bae,” Keith offered the pet a smile, rubbing behind his ears. Bae Bae’s response was to lick his hand.

 

After giving the dog a few more rubs, the ravenette also made his way down to the workshop where everyone had already began setting up.

 

“Ok guys! I think we can try hooking it up and testing it out!” Pidge exclaimed excitedly.

 

“We’ll add a bit more design to it later,” Hunk added, heading over to the work table and pulling out their current version of PACMAN.

 

Pidge and Hunk quickly set up the PACMAN, hooking it to Pidge’s laptop. The lights they installed the other night flickered to life, showing the device was so far up and running without any problems. Pidge adjusted her glasses quickly before pulling out her notebook, ready to write down observations.

 

“Who wants to be the first test dummy?” she asked.

 

“I volunteer as tribute!” Lance raised his hand almost immediately.

 

“Alright. Hunk could you please place the PACMAN on Lance?” Pidge instructed. “Lance stop laughing.”

 

The tall brunet couldn’t help himself, snickering behind his hand while Hunk placed the device on his head. He put the sensory pads along the other’s forehead and adjusted the device to fit and work properly. The program Pidge created specifically for their invention activated on her laptop, set to collect all data.

 

“I think that should do it,” Hunk said with a nod.

 

“Ok, sharpshooter,” Pidge began. “First up, don’t do anything. Just sit still there.”

 

“That I can do, Pidgey,” Lance flashed a grin.

 

“Highly doubt that,” Keith coughed, quickly glancing away when he felt the other look at him in clear disbelief.

 

“Excuse me?” Lance scoffed, flailing his arms dramatically. He paused, blinking a few times in realization. “I see I just proved your point. I’ll sit still starting now.”

 

Keith wouldn’t have minded teasing the other a bit more, but was suddenly struck with the familiarity of the sight before him. It was hauntingly similar to the devices he would be hooked onto back in the laboratory. He could almost hear the pens scritching on papers again. Almost breathe the same stale air.

 

Pidge began to type on her laptop, her rapid tapping snapping Keith out of his unsettling memories. She scrolled through the running programs and checked the information that the PACMAN was collecting.

 

“This is so interesting,” Pidge marvelled at the screen. “Naturally we all knew that brain activity never exactly truly stops until you’re dead, but...there’s a lot more going on than I would’ve believed for a person just sitting idly.”

 

“Whoa, that’s true. Lance must be thinking up a storm over there,” Hunk said in awe. “Keith, get over here and check this out.”

 

The ravenette hesitantly walked over to the laptop, peering to see multiple coloured lines spiking up and down across the screen. There were boxes to the sides that held numbers and other data that the PACMAN was processing. Keith wondered if this image was one the scientists would see during those days. He watched the lines move. It was almost therapeutic following the spikes and jumps. Before the inevitable memories resurfaced of course.

 

If this was the amount of activity with Lance sitting normally, how would the device fair against his own mind? He hoped he’d never find out.

 

“Ok ok,” Pidge quickly grabbed a mechanical book from one of the shelves passing it to Lance. “Start reading this.”

 

“Oh lord. Couldn’t you have chosen something I would be remotely interested in?” Lance groaned.

 

“Just read the damn book, Fuentes,” Pidge ordered through gritted teeth.

 

“Yes ma’am,” Lance said, mock saluting before opening the book and beginning to read the lengthy paragraphs of gibberish filling the pages.

 

“Hey, look,” Hunk pointed on the screen. “This line is acting up more now.”

 

“You’re right,” Pidge murmured. “We’ll have to connect these correlations later.”

 

Keith tried his hardest to focus on what they were saying, trying to agree with Hunk and Pidge’s ideas, but watching this project unfold just made him feel uneasy. He couldn’t stand there and excitedly discuss the breakthroughs of their device as if it didn’t pain him to watch this whole experiment happen again.

 

“Guys!” Lance closed the book quickly, voice slightly panicked. “This thing is really starting to heat up!”

 

“Crap!” Pidge quickly shut off the PACMAN, the lights on the device flickering off.

 

“I got you buddy,” Hunk made his way over to the brunet and tried his best to remove their invention as gently as possible. He handed it over to Pidge who almost immediately started to check on it.

 

“How’s your scalp?” he asked.

 

“Much safer now,” Lance sighed in relief, touching the top of his head to make sure everything was intact.

 

Pidge cursed, “Son of a-”

 

“Language, Pidge,” Hunk quite perfectly censored her cussing.

 

“This godforsaken cell and generator’s wiring uses way too much energy,” Pidge explained. “This makes our neuro-device heat up too much. We’ll have to figure out how to modify our design to fix it.”

 

Hunk checked over the PACMAN as well, frowning at the sight, brows furrowing as he concentrated on finding a way to fix it.

 

“Ok, how about moving this one here?” Hunk asked. “It would keep the device running but also stops the overheating.”

 

“That’s true. But the performance quality will clearly go down because of that,” Pidge pointed out. “Unless you want the judges handing us a gold trophy from their gravestones, we’ll need to come up with something else.”

 

Keith only needed to blink once really before Pidge and Hunk both straightened up, smiles clear on their faces. That didn’t take long.

 

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Hunk asked as Pidge eyed him knowingly.

 

“Is it the toaster?” Pidge grinned.

 

“Damn right it is!” Hunk laughed as the two immediately delved into wiring like second nature.

 

“Am I missing something here?” Keith couldn’t help but ask Lance who was still running a hand through his hair to make sure it was still there.

 

“Well, a class project last year involved having to make a toaster,” Lance explained. “Hunk and Pidge couldn’t figure out why their toaster was literally not heating up at all until later. I think they figured in order to reduce the burning your head off factor of the PACMAN they got to get the same wiring from their prototype fail of a toaster.”

 

“They’re really working in sync right now,” Keith noted, watching the two help each other change the patterns without even speaking.

 

“They’d make such an awesome fusion,” Lance pointed out with a grin.

 

“Fusion?” Keith paused for a second. “The process or result of joining two or more things together to form a single entity...why a fusion?”

 

“You know,” Lance gestured towards the two again as if that would clarify anything. “Like a _fusion_...from Steven Universe.”

 

Keith blinked, confusion never leaving his face.

 

“You know what? I give up,” the taller brunet sighed. “You’re so uncultured I can’t even. I’m forcing you to watch everything from every single reference you don’t get from now on.”

 

Keith already knew that would take forever.

 

“Yes!” Pidge and Hunk cheered, high fiving one another in triumph.

 

“Guys, we did it!” Hunk beamed, holding up the PACMAN victoriously.

 

“Nice work, team,” Lance smiled.

 

Keith could only offer one of his infamous, lame thumbs up’s before Pidge was rushing Lance back to the stool.

 

“Alright, Lance,” she smirked a bit, placing the PACMAN back onto the brunet’s head with speed no one knew was humanly possible (her determination was really the only plausible explanation). “We’ll move onto the next test.”

 

“Should I be nervous?” Lance asked.

 

“No, you’ll love it,” Pidge said nonchalantly. “Just wait a quick sec.”

 

The petite girl ran out of the workshop, coming back quickly with a ukulele in hand.

 

“Matt used to play this darn thing all the time,” Pidge exclaimed, shuddering at the memory. “Let’s put it to much better use.”

 

She passed the ukulele into Lance’s awaiting hands.

 

“I get to play it?” he asked excitedly with an open mouthed smile. It reminded Keith of when Bae Bae got excited over treats (Pidge let them feed him one time and it was the cutest thing).

 

“Knock yourself out,” Pidge adjusted her glasses, tapping her laptop screen. “We’ll be seeing how this goes.”

 

Keith pulled out another stool from underneath the workshop table, sitting down. Bae Bae circled around his seat, settling beside it.

 

Lance tested out a few notes on the ukulele, happy to find it in tune. He smiled softly before closing his eyes and strumming a few chords, opening his mouth to sing.

 

_“The flowers only bloom for you,_

_So do not shed a tear._

_The birds and I will sing for you,_

_There's no reason for any fear._

 

Lance’s voice filled the room, echoing through the workshop. His voice was smooth, each perfect note blending with the soft strum of the ukulele.

 

_Just let sleep come to you,_

_I will be there by your side._

_Just let your dreams capture you_

_Of many worlds far and wide._

 

Keith hung onto every word the other sang, grasping every feeling it carried with it. He hadn’t experienced much music besides the songs Ezor would occasionally play throughout the loft. But the taller boy was effortlessly guiding him through the song, stringing him along without him truly realizing it.

 

_I pray that angels will guide you,_

_When I am no longer there._

_They’ll catch you and guard you,_

_Watch over you with care._

 

Even Bae Bae stopped to listen, tilting his head slightly, ears twitching and tail wagging.

 

_But until those weepful days arrive,_

_I will sit here and sing you to sleep_

_Each day and each night_

_So there is no reason to weep._

 

_The flowers only bloom for you,_

_So do not shed a tear._

_The birds and I will sing for you,_

_There's no reason for any fear.”_

 

The final note of the ukulele rang out, the last echo dissipated to silence and only then did Pidge and Hunk clap at the performance. Lance stood up from the stool, bowing mockingly making sure not to disturb the device on his head.

 

“Thank you, thank you,” he grinned at the applause. “I’ll be here all night.”

 

The brunet set the ukulele down onto the table, looking up, a glint of joy still present in his ocean blue eyes and Keith was hit by another wave of familiarity. _Ocean blue._

 

“What did you think?” Lance turned to the ravenette suddenly, rubbing the back of his neck in sudden sheepishness.

 

Keith searched his brain and his extensive vocabulary, but could only find one fitting word to describe it all. “It was beautiful, Lance.”

 

To this the taller male flushed pink, a sudden dopey smile forming on his face.

 

“Thanks, mystery,” Lance breathed a soft laugh. “Wasn’t really expecting that.”

 

Hunk removed the PACMAN much to Lance’s relief who muttered, “I thought I was gonna break that thing in all honesty.”

 

“That was a Spanish lullaby right?” Keith couldn’t help but ask. He could almost hear the notes echo off the workshop walls, a tune he hoped he wouldn’t forget.

 

“Ah, nice catch mystery,” Lance grinned. “It was one my Abuela used to sing to me when I was younger.”

 

“I used to sit on her lap and she would sing it to me and I would slowly learn to sing it back,” Lance smiled fondly at the memory and Keith couldn’t help but feel a bit happier too. “Now she was no Beyoncé, but...I’m not lying when I say she’s one of the best singers I know.”

 

“I don’t doubt she is,” the ravenette said softly. “She was the one who taught you how to sing that song after all.”

 

Lance hummed, staring off into the distance with the same fond smile, memories lingering in his mind. He radiated light, offering warmth and solace. It was almost addictive. Staring at him that is. The shorter looked away quickly, wondering what the hell he was even doing—or thinking.

 

“Do you like music?” Keith found himself asking to hide his sudden embarrassment and the other’s eyes immediately lit up, almost shining a brighter blue. Just as fast, they dulled, a small frown suddenly present.

 

“You could say that,” Lance shrugged, looking down a bit forlornly. “I do enjoy it. It just shouldn’t be where my focus is. I have more things to worry about, you know?”

 

Keith caught onto the other’s sudden draw back. From what he observed, Lance was usually the most talkative, speaking endlessly on whatever he was passionate about. He no doubt had a passion for music, but something in the back of his mind was stopping him from delving into it.

 

Keith opened his mouth to say something else, but the taller was leaning towards Pidge and Hunk, making it evident he didn’t wish to speak more on the subject. He shut his mouth, frowning a bit and left wondering if he screwed it up. Did he say something wrong? Was the question...wrong? He knew so many languages, but what was the point if he couldn’t even use them right.

 

“Look at all this freaking data!” Pidge screamed excitedly, drawing the ravenette away from his thoughts. “The brain really does sparkle when people play music huh?”

 

“This is amazing,” Lance marvelled as he moved to see it himself.

 

“Hey guys,” Hunk grinned. “I’m sensing a first place right now, if you know what I mean.”

 

“Gold is good as ours now!” Lance chimed in.

 

“We can’t get too excited yet,” Pidge pointed out, though her attempts to hide her smile said otherwise. “We don’t know exactly what our competition is doing.”

 

“For all we know, that damn Price might have something amazing up his sleeve too,” she fixed her glasses, eyeing the PACMAN on the table determinedly.

 

“Well, I have absolute faith in our creation,” Lance declared confidently. “Let’s test it out some more.”

 

Pidge glanced at her laptop before smiling widely again. “Hell yeah!”

 

“Ooh! Let me try baking!” Hunk exclaimed.

 

“Yes please!” Lance agreed immediately.

 

“Let’s go then,” Pidge was already attempting to transport the laptop and PACMAN safely off the table.

 

And the three were suddenly an excitedly, giggling mess running up the workshop stairs to get to the kitchen.

 

They all worked so hard for this moment, so it was only natural that they should cherish every scientific second. Keith lingered behind a bit longer in the workshop with Bae Bae at his feet, trying to ignore the voice in the back of his mind telling him they wouldn’t even notice he wasn’t there.

 

Their laughter could still be heard from the workshop like a bittersweet reminder. If only he could be as happy with this breakthrough as everyone else. With this device, they were one step closer to reaching the gold they were aiming for—Pidge’s dreams was one first place away...and yet seeing it work so well only brought back those haunting memories.

 

Bae Bae curled up, leaning on him to remind him he was still there, sensing the ravenette’s growing distress.

 

“I’m alright,” he said more so to himself, rubbing behind the dog’s ears. He watched the biscuit coloured dog lean into his touch for a few more seconds before running up the stairs to no doubt find the source of excited cheers and laughs. Anyone would want to sought out the warmth those three emitted anyway.  

 

He should probably go up too.

 

Taking a deep breath, Keith prepared himself to continue observing the process of their project, willing himself not to scream. He’d just stand there and pretend things were fine. Be a normal teen.

 

But he couldn’t.

 

He couldn’t face them at the moment. The smiles in their faces. Their passion to see this project through. Their bond that was so obviously not something he could ever be a part of. He needed a second to think things through—calm himself. He needed to _breathe._

 

He squeezed his eyes shut, sinking to the floor as he tried his hardest to suppress the panic that had been building up since he arrived back at this house. Why...why did he think he could ever do this?

 

He tried to find solace in the mess of his mind, envisioning the corridors of the house before it lead to a simple door. Keith wasted no time, almost following the path carved out for him on autopilot, walking past the trio watching Hunk cook in the kitchen unnoticed.

 

When he closed the door to the bathroom only then did he come back to his senses. His panicked senses.

 

The lights were flickering on and off and looking in the mirror as he leaned on the sink didn’t help, only making it worse. The sink started turning on and off as he quickly looked away from his reflection.

 

_Stop. Stop. Stop._

 

_Stop!_

 

His face was in his hands as he tried to calm himself. Think of something else. Calm down. Breathe. Do something—anything…

 

_“S-stop! Get away from me!”_

 

_“Akira…”_

 

_“I’ll hurt you...I-I can’t control any of it! I don’t know how!”_

 

_Everything in the room was floating. He didn’t know how to stop it. He couldn’t control it. It wasn’t like any of the small activities he was used to performing...he didn’t understand what he was doing anymore. All he could do was panic._

 

_“Akira, take a deep breath. You’ll be okay.”_

 

_“I’ll only ever hurt people! Just stay back.”_

 

_“You could never hurt me.”_

 

_“That’s a lie, Lotor…”_

 

_“Just listen to my voice. Don’t think about anything else. Just my voice.”_

 

_“...”_

 

_“Take a deep breath. Just breathe in and out for me.”_

 

_“...”_

 

_“Count to eight. Just follow me. 1...2...3...4...5…6...7...8.”_

 

_“...”_

 

_“I’m gonna step closer now, okay?”_

 

_“...”_

 

_“You are safe and I am safe. We’ll be alright.”_

 

_Lotor kept him close, rubbing comforting circles on his back. And suddenly it was getting easier to breathe. To think._

 

_“How are you so sure about that?”_

 

_“Look around you.”_

 

_Everything that had been in his mind’s hold was now back on the ground, in their rightful places._

 

Keith opened his eyes, adjusting to the light that no longer flickered. The sink was turned off. He sighed in a bit of relief, rapid heartbeat calming down. It was all over.

 

He left the washroom cautiously, finding the three currently looking through data on the laptop, completely focused and eyes glued to the screen. They barely moved a muscle as Keith made his way to glance at the laptop. He looked at the oven, wafting the sweet, comforting scent of baking cookies.

 

“This is awesome,” Lance breathed in awe. “Even I can’t believe we managed to pull this off.”

 

“We’re pretty amazing,” Pidge chuckled a bit, turning off her laptop for the day. “Where were you, Keith? You missed some extraordinary stuff when Hunk was baking.”

 

“Washroom,” Keith replied carefully.

 

“Aw shoot, I forgot to tell you where it was didn’t I?” Pidge facepalmed. “Sorry about that.”

 

“It’s fine. I found it eventually,” Keith scratched the back of his neck a bit nervously. He totally spent the last thirty minutes trying to find the bathroom, not panicking and telekinetically ruining one.

 

“We were gonna take a break while the cookies are baking,” Hunk explained, gesturing to the oven. “But if you wanted to test out the PACMAN-”

 

“No,” Keith said a bit too quickly. “You guys deserve a break.”

 

“Sweet! Video game time!” Lance cheered. Unbeknownst to him, Keith was silently thanking him for saying something to draw the attention away from him.

 

Pidge rolled her eyes, packing up the equipment. “I’ll put these back. You idiots go knock yourselves out.”

 

With the given permission, Hunk and Lance happily ran over to the TV, routinely putting in the video game they wanted to play. Keith watched in semi amusement and curiosity for a few minutes, listening in to the other two screaming at the screen and spamming buttons on the remotes before it occurred to him that Pidge still hadn’t come back yet.

 

The ravenette decided to find her, heading back down to the workshop where he presumed she’d still be in. Pidge was sitting at the work table, studying their invention intently, running a hand on the smooth yet imperfect surface with a small smile present on her face.

 

Keith moved to head back up the stairs, not wanting to disturb the other. He only really came to make sure she was still alive. However, he tripped over Bae Bae, stumbling to catch himself and giving Pidge the nonverbal, prominent cue that he was in fact there.

 

“Oh, hey Keith,” Pidge seemed a bit startled. “How long have you been there?”

 

“Not long,” Keith replied truthfully. “What are you doing?”

 

Pidge eyed the device on the table. “Just...you know processing all of this.”

 

She sighed a bit, a content smile still forming on her lips. She was tapping the table with her fingertips absentmindedly in bliss.

 

“Happy,” Keith mumbled softly. “Feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.”

 

“Are you happy?” he couldn’t help but ask.

 

“Hm,” Pidge hummed a bit. “Yeah. I feel sorta invincible at the moment. Like nothing can bring me down.”

 

“The fair...all of that hasn’t even started yet, but I feel…” the brunette paused. “I don’t know...just really, really _excited_.”

 

“You should,” Keith walked over as the shorter girl motioned for him to sit down next to her. “Your dream is within reaching distance.”

 

Pidge sighed with a smile. “I guess so.”

 

Altea Tech.

 

The name rang oddly in Keith’s mind. A shroud of mystery he didn’t understand quite yet. Pidge wanted to work there, obviously placing them on a very high pedestal. Her brother, whom she cared for and respected already works there as well. But even so, it carried an ominous feeling, especially after the pamphlet Lotor left in the bag. Keith needed to know why it was there.

 

“Can you…” he didn’t know how to word it without it sounding so out of place. “Tell me more about Altea Tech? I know you want to work there, but what’s so great about it?”

 

“Where do I even start?” Pidge grinned excitedly, amber eyes sparkling. “It’s every aspiring scientist and engineer’s dream to be there. Not only do you create what _you_ want, but you also get the most high tech equipment out there. No experiment is too stupid, well actually no one can afford to be stupid there really, but having creative liberty is so important.”

 

“I’ve been there before when Matt invited me to check out the lab,” she breathed, almost taken aback by the memory. “It was _incredible._ So many inventions, ideas, and creations that the public eye still hasn’t seen!”

 

Keith smiled a bit as the other rambled on about the institute so passionately. He felt his worries from before dissipating a bit more, leaning more to the idea that Lotor wanted to learn more about Altea Tech because of how as Pidge would put it amazing it was.

 

He suddenly remembered another name from the papers in the bag.

 

“Hey, um actually have you ever heard of Gal-” he began before Hunk popped into the workshop with a smile.

 

“Guys, cookies are ready upstairs.”

 

“Oh my god, yes!” Pidge screamed, bolting up the stairs without hesitation.

 

It was these moments that reminded Keith of how Pidge was still a teenager and a human being like everyone else, no matter how much more intelligent she was. Cookies were still apparently a weakness.

 

“No need to run Pidge,” Hunk called after her. “They aren’t going to leave before you get there.”

 

“I don’t trust that cookie heathen!” she exclaimed back.

 

“Who are you calling a heathen, you gremlin!”

 

“Stop trying to grab all of them with your fat hands!”

 

“Rude! They’re not fat, they’re just bigger than your dwarf ones!”

 

Hunk sighed, shaking his head. “We should probably head up too. Those two will devour all those cookies and I really wanted you to at least try one.”

 

Keith offered a smile. “I’m sure they’re great, Hunk.”

 

“Otherwise, those two would not be having an all out war for them,” he pointed out. They were really going at it.

 

“Let go!”

 

“Never!”

 

“You wanna play it that way, fun-sized? Fine!”

 

“Did you just bite the cookie out of my hand, you son of a b-”

 

“We should break them up,” Hunk sighed again as Keith nodded his head in agreement. It was only gonna get a whole lot uglier from the sound of it.

 

— x — x — x — x —

 

Hunk’s cookies were a big hit amongst the three back at the loft. He had been nice enough to salvage a few to give to Keith, hoping he could share it with his family. Keith thanked him, smiling at the pure luck of there being exactly three in the bundled bag made up of materials totally not stolen from Pidge’s household.

 

“Your new friends are the best,” Ezor hummed, munching on the last piece of her cookie.

 

“You haven’t even met a single one of ‘em,” Zethrid snorted.

 

“Well, I think I’d love them,” the blue eyed girl retorted. “Especially the talented, kind soul who made those cookies.”

 

Keith shrugged when Zethrid glanced at him with a questioning raised brow. Hunk was talented and kind. He could never deny that.

 

“Whatever, weirdo,” the purple haired girl rolled her eyes, heading over to the sink and placing her plate inside. “I’m gonna do the dishes like a good roommate.”

 

“Look, I do the dishes too,” Ezor tried. “You can stop being salty every time you’re going to wash the dishes now.”

 

“As much as you’d like to think you do the dishes,” Zethrid scoffed, “You don’t, so I still have the right to be aggressive-aggressive about it.”

 

“Don’t you mean passive-aggressive?” the other girl frowned.

 

“Since when am I ever passive, dipshit?” the purple haired girl pointed out.

 

“As much as I love your bickering, I’m heading to bed,” Acxa yawned, earning a few quick “goodnights” before disappearing into her room.

 

Usually Keith was the first to head to bed while the three stayed up late talking and believing he couldn’t hear them through the loft walls. He guessed Acxa had had a long, tiring day. She deserved rest.

 

“Hey squirt, can you grab Ezor’s plate?” Zethrid asked. “She’s too lazy to bring it over herself.”

 

She muttered a quick, “little shit.”

 

Ezor stuck her tongue out, flopping on the couch as an unspoken vow of stubbornness, leaving her dinner plate sitting soundly on the table. Keith sighed a bit before making his way to grab it. He made his way back to Zethrid, who suddenly turned on the sink, the sound of running water suddenly filling the room.

 

He felt like he was floating, drowning in the sound of rain. Incoherent yelling echoed through his mind as blurry people came into view in an unfamiliar scene.

 

_Space...friends...control…_

 

What were they saying?

 

_Crash!_

 

And suddenly his surroundings were so clear. He was on the floor staring at a shattered plate, Ezor and Zethrid kneeling at his side, wide eyed.

 

“I’m so sorry,” he managed, shaking his head slightly. “I don’t know what came over me.”

 

“No need to worry,” Zethrid squeezed his shoulder for reassurance. “It was Ezor’s plate anyway, so she'll just have to steal another one or something.”

 

Ezor smacked Zethrid on the arm with a huff. “I’ll just steal yours.”

 

Zethrid only rolled her eyes to that as if challenging the other girl. She gave one more shoulder squeeze before she got up, heading over to the sink to actually start washing the dishes.

 

Keith moved to pick up the broken ceramic only for Ezor to immediately stop him.

 

“That’s definitely not safe,” she frowned. “No need to injure yourself. Zethy and I’ll clean it up.”

 

The ravenette didn’t like the sound of one of them hurting themselves over this either. He contemplated, looking at the hallway almost irking him not to do it.

 

He put his index finger to his lips. Ezor eyed him confused before her eyes widened in realization. She contemplated for a second before nodding her head cautiously. He noticed her glance at the hallway for a brief second as well.

 

Keith focused on the pieces on the floor, easily lifting the shards into the air. Objects like these were so much lighter now, it barely felt like he was doing much. Which was why moving objects were so easy now when he was feeling...anything really. It only made living much more of hinderance.

 

He moved the pieces through the air, carefully manipulating them into the bin. When that was over he excused himself from the kitchen, quickly heading to his room to ignore the two’s questions (and they no doubt had many). Once the door was shut he fell to the floor, still shaking.

 

The visions were getting worse. He still didn’t understand why he was receiving them consciously. It was putting him on edge as he couldn’t decipher them.

 

He glanced at the Japanese poetry book placed on the nightstand, wondering if some light reading would calm him down. He shook his head slightly, opting to try to sleep instead.

 

Keith still felt jittery as he laid in bed, his mind racing and paranoia keeping him from shutting his eyes long enough. When sleep finally managed to capture him, all he dreamed of was heavy, relentless rain on a busy road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter summary is so misleading, sorry y’all 
> 
> This was a lot more intense and angst then what I originally thought it would turn out to be, but it only gets more intense after this??? And then back to fluff and then back to angst. 
> 
> I put in a lot of parallels b/w Keith and the three amigos in this chapter and also little pieces of foreshadowing for you all to dig through ;) like a good parent. And also Lotor!! because we need an update on that XD. Panic attacks are based roughly around my own experiences, so I hope you understand that everyone kind of deals with these sorts of experiences differently.
> 
> Lemme know what you guys think! And as usual have a wonderful day!


	7. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith’s vision suddenly turned black and all he could hear was incomprehensible noise. He tried to make out what was being said, only managing to decipher that he needed to go. Go and find...him…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, this is incredibly late. I’m so sorry everyone.
> 
> I was planning on posting this chapter much much earlier in the month, but unfortunately life (*cough school*) had different plans :’) Editing this was also a considerable nightmare and I was hit with at least eleven different writer’s blocks. I’m still not completely proud of this version, but I hope you enjoy the chapter nonetheless!
> 
> Happy reading! (And belated happy holidays!)
> 
> *trigger warning : forgot to add, there is another panic attack in this chapter*

Keith woke up in cold sweat, sitting up immediately, gasping for air as if he was deprived of any before. He found himself sitting in the darkness of his room, the frigid morning air tingling against his skin. His heart was beating faster, pounding in his ears just to remind him that he was awake. That he was _alive_.

 

He had felt so much fear. So much panic...but he couldn’t remember why.

 

He laid back down, pulling the covers back up only as a shield against whatever his mind would conjure up when he closed his eyes again. However, he found himself staring blankly at the ceiling, caught in his current state of shaking. Every sound would make him jump whether it was noise outside or he himself shuffling in his sheets. Either way, his heart wouldn’t calm down, his mind wouldn’t shut off (not like it did that ever anyway) and his senses seemed dialed to eleven.

 

When he could hear the morning scuffle of the three outside his bedroom door and deemed it impossible to squeeze in any extra shut-eye, he got up from bed. He ignored the groggy comments from Ezor about how early he was this morning or the raised eyebrow Acxa gave him. He instead went straight to the bathroom, splashing water on his face to make himself remotely more relaxed. It worked...for awhile.

 

From eating breakfast to getting into the car, he was tripping, zoning out and jumping at every little thing the girls’ said which didn’t lessen their worry whatsoever.

 

When he got to school (after a very lengthy conversation regarding his well-being in the car) it somehow got much, much, _much_ worse. He was constantly freaking out over whether anyone was looking at him and the buzz of the student body chatting in the hallways only made the pit in his stomach grow heavier. Keith tried his best to head to his designated class as quickly as possible with the least amount of human physical contact. He felt like he would explode if he even so much brushed past someone.

 

Naturally, Lance scared him shitless when he said hello and Pidge’s sudden rambling about their science project really wasn’t making him feel better. Granted they were about to have science class, so he couldn’t blame her for wanting to discuss it so fast. Hunk was also quite proud of the PACMAN, willing to boast about it with the shorter girl at any given opportunity. Which just so happened to be every passing second.

 

Lance was the first to notice something was off and Keith blamed it on him being tired. Frankly, he couldn’t put it against the taller boy for doubting that when every stool’s creak would almost make the ravenette fall out of his seat.

 

“-so then afterwards, Hunk will introduce the data we collect—Keith are you getting all this?” Pidge paused.

 

“Y-yes?” Keith straightened up, clearing his throat at the sudden sound of his name.

 

It really just wanted to dig into his brain at the moment, pulsing like a growing headache.

 

“Ok…” Pidge said slowly, her eyes narrowing slightly. “Anyways, after that everything is up for grabs.”

 

By the time everyone was given their parts, Keith was apparently so blatantly out of it, they only gave him the last line which was to ask any audience whether they had any questions.

 

“Let’s try it out from the very start,” Pidge instructed, gesturing to Lance with her pencil to begin their presentation.

 

“This is-”

 

Keith started to zone out again. He wasn’t even doing it intentionally. It was as if his mind was finding anything to distract him, drawing his mind physically out of the classroom. Visions of the hallways became so vivid, he couldn’t even tell whether his eyes were open or closed.

 

“Keith!”

 

Some guy’s hat would’ve flown straight off his head if he hadn’t been careful enough. Keith blinked, staring at the concerned and annoyed faces looking back at him.

 

“A-are there any questions?” he tried as Pidge sighed, noticeably frustrated.

 

“Alright, the period is almost over. We should be able to try again at least once,” she exclaimed.

 

As Lance began the presentation, gesturing to an imaginary PACMAN, Hunk poked Keith with a slight frown. When he caught the ravenette’s attention he mouthed an “are you okay?”

 

Keith nodded a bit hesitantly. No one in their right mind would’ve believed that. He was anything but, caught in mood swings ranging from the verge of crying and extreme paranoia. And he couldn’t figure out why.

 

The morning announcements cut their presentation off short and Keith was relieved he didn’t have to attempt to say his _one_ line again. Could he even form words properly at the moment? He didn’t trust himself enough with the seemingly simple task.

 

His shakiness went by the next period and Keith couldn’t understand why he couldn’t keep still for even just a moment. Luckily, it was a silent work period, so no one really noticed him practically dying in the corner of the classroom. Or maybe it wasn’t so lucky, as the silence only made his heartbeat sound louder and his panic more abundantly clear. When class finally ended, he didn’t know whether he was relieved or terrified. He felt as if he couldn’t distinguish the difference between the two very opposite feelings anymore.

 

He didn’t believe he’d gone through anything like this before. And if he had, he had no recollection of it. Whatever it was, Keith knew that he had to at least get through the school day. He could figure it all out at the end of it.

 

Life doesn't always go as planned however as lunch went by terribly.

 

Maybe that was an exaggeration, but he was still feeling off by the time it came around. Pidge, Lance and Hunk generally kept the conversation lively, talking about the project and also anything eventful that happened in their second period classes. They thankfully wouldn’t notice if the ravenette wasn’t adding his own input, only offering occasional nods.

 

Every time Keith closed his eyes he would see flashes of a familiar door almost like a warning sign. He shivered, suddenly feeling rather cold. The chill went away as fast as it came however, leaving him unsettled and confused. Perhaps even slightly dazed.

 

Listening to his friends ramble surprisingly eased his crazy thoughts, distracting him from his visions long enough to provide temporary comfort. As they continued to talk, Keith felt himself calm down a bit. His thoughts were getting clearer and lunch seemed to end rather normally. It gave him enough confidence to go through the rest of the school day without feeling like he’d spontaneously combust.

 

Until he ran into a wall (much to Lance’s amusement) when they were leaving the cafeteria.

 

— x — x — x — x —

 

Turns out, Keith wasn’t the only one feeling off that day. During English, Shiro was all over the place. He was forgetting things, dropping anything he tried to carry, repeating parts of the lesson he taught fifteen minutes prior and calling students by the wrong names. A few of his classmates advised Shiro to sit down and take a break if he needed it, suggesting the rest of class be a work period. The English teacher hesitantly agreed, sitting at his desk for the remaining twenty minutes.

 

Keith glanced up from the play to look at the teacher who was currently staring solemnly at his metal prosthetic. Keith frowned a bit, wondering what was wrong.

 

And before he knew it, the period was over and the ravenette could only offer one last concerned glance at the teacher before leaving.

 

The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully compared to everything earlier, minus the fact that Keith went to the washroom at least twelve times to get a hold of his nerves and the paranoia that he might telekinetically crack his desk in half. His powers seemed to be really acting up, threatening to skyrocket his pencil into the ceiling if he so much tried to use a bit of telekinesis to pick it up from the floor.

 

By the end of school, his locker door got stuck just after he finished gathering what he needed, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. He began contemplating the idea of him being cursed at this point. Keith definitely did not want to risk using his abilities to close the door. He wanted to keep his locker intact and frankly not caved in.

 

His three friends showed up as per usual, ready to head out somewhere to practise their presentation. Lance was quote on quote on the brink of starvation, so they wanted to stop by somewhere to eat.

 

“Locker troubles?” Hunk asked. “I remember Lance’s last year wouldn’t budge.”

 

“It was my daily workout,” Lance agreed, sighing in bittersweet reminiscence. “Really worked my muscles everyday.”

 

“What muscles?” Pidge snorted, adjusting her glasses.

 

“Here,” Lance walked over to the locker door, choosing to ignore the other’s comment. “I’m a veteran, so this should be easy.”

 

The taller boy swung his leg back, kicking the locker door shut roughly.

 

_Slam!_

 

Keith’s vision suddenly turned black and all he could hear was incomprehensible noise. He tried to make out what was being said, only managing to decipher that he needed to go. Go and find...him…

 

_Danger. Danger. Danger._

 

Someone... _he_ was in danger. Who was in danger?

 

 _“A_... _re...y-you...al...r-right?”_

 

A voice so clear and so familiar spoke words that lingered in the back of his mind.

 

Shiro…Shiro...

 

_Shiro!_

 

Keith opened his eyes with a shaky breath, finding his friends laughing about something he didn’t have time to figure out.

 

“I...I forgot I had to do something,” he managed, catching their attention. “You guys head out first. I’ll catch up later.”

 

He didn’t waste a second after that.

 

“Keith!” someone called after him, but he was already running.

 

He maneuvered through the few crowds still lingering in the hallways, weaving through students who were unwilling to move themselves. He felt his mind draw him down the halls as they slowly became more and more empty, taking him closer to the familiar door of his English classroom.

 

Keith grabbed the door handle. Locked.

 

“Why would you-” he bit his lip, feeling the panic welling up inside of him again.

 

He stopped, reminding himself that he had to remain calm in this situation.

 

He didn’t quite understand what danger the teacher was in, but he knew he needed to get in there and save him. Standing there, too busy worrying wasn’t going to accomplish anything.

 

Closing his eyes, he focused on turning the lock on the other side of the door as gently as possible, afraid it would snap off if wasn't too careful. Hearing the click, he quickly entered the classroom, closing the door telekinetically behind him perhaps a bit too roughly.

 

His eyes darted around the classroom in search of the teacher.

 

The ravenette found him curled in the corner of the classroom just beside his desk, grey eyes clouded, unseeing of the world around him.

 

“Shiro!” Keith dropped his bag, hurrying to the teacher’s side.

 

 _Panic._ All he could feel emanating from the other was fear and panic.

 

“Shiro, can you hear me?” Keith began calmly. As calm as he could manage to be at least.

 

The other remained unresponsive.

 

“Shiro!” he called again, this time accidentally moving the desks around him, breaking the once aligned rows and columns. He bit his lip, making a mental note to fix that later.

 

It was terrifying seeing somebody like this. Seeing them trapped in fear no one should ever feel. Especially when it was Shiro. Someone Keith had only ever viewed as strong...seemed so incredibly vulnerable.  

 

This was someone who had only ever showed kindness since the very beginning. He saved his life that day in the pool and if the ravenette could ever repay that debt, he would want to save the other from himself.

 

“Shir…” Keith closed his eyes. He couldn’t give up. He had to keep trying to reach the other.

 

Shiro was now mumbling in his mother tongue, spewing apologies to people he wasn’t really facing.

 

“Sh…” Keith faltered again, eyes opening. His voice called out before he even realized what he was doing.

 

“Takashi!”

 

The teacher moved at that, arms suddenly grabbing the student in a death grip, pulling him into what seemed like a sudden hug. He was trying to stable himself—trying to hold onto something in his reality to escape from his imagination.

 

Keith took a deep breath, holding his arms away from contacting the teacher’s noticeably shaking form.

 

“Can you hear me?” he asked a bit hesitant.

 

The other moved slightly, though there was still no verbal response.

 

“Tap me two times for yes and one tap for no,” Keith tried, repeating his initial question.

 

_Two taps._

 

“Takashi,” he said calmly. “Just listen to my voice. Don’t think about anything else...just my voice. Okay?”

 

The other only held on tighter and Keith wondered if Shiro knew he was practically suffocating him. He gritted his teeth slightly. It didn’t matter at the moment. He had to make sure the other was okay.

 

“Take a deep breath. Just breathe in and out. I know you can do it,” he continued. “Breathe with me.”

 

He felt the other try to do so, his embrace loosening up a bit.

 

“Count to eight with me, okay?” the ravenette hummed. “1...2...3...4...5…6...7...8.”

 

“Breathe,” he repeated softly. “Can I touch you?”

 

_Two taps._

 

Keith lowered the arms he had been keeping up, rubbing circles on the other’s back as he closed his eyes. He focused on spreading a calming aura to the other, like he had done with Bae Bae, slowly feeling the initial panic simmer away from the atmosphere.

 

He didn’t know how long he had been there, attempting to comfort the other, softly repeating that he was gonna be alright, but it didn’t matter. Not until Shiro was feeling better.

 

Interestingly enough, the heaviness Keith had been feeling all day was gone. He wondered if the mess of the school day was his abilities telling him this was going to happen. From the moment he touched the metal prosthetic onward.

 

He found himself humming Lance’s Spanish lullaby absentmindedly before Shiro finally shifted, lifting his head up, breathing finally stable.

 

“I...I’m so sorry,” Shiro said, voice noticeably weaker.

 

Upon realization, the teacher retracted his arms, releasing Keith.

 

“That was bypassing way too many school guidelines,” he coughed, looking away in what seemed to be horror from his actions. “It was unprofessional of me to have done any of that, so I apologize.”

 

Keith blinked in disbelief.

 

“Unprofessional?” the younger frowned. “Ta— _Shiro_ , you were having a panic attack…”

 

Saying it out loud made it all the more real somehow.

 

“You’re...you’re right…” Shiro stared down at the cool tile they were still sitting on seemingly at a loss for words.  

 

After a few more moments of silence, Keith finally spoke, “Are you okay?”

 

Another short pause.

 

“I’m...much better now,” the other sighed a bit, running a hand—his real one—through his hair, grey eyes never leaving the floor.

 

“Do you…wanna talk about it?” Keith didn’t want to sound intrusive, but he was more than likely coming off that way. He bit his tongue instinctively to shut himself up.

 

“I…” Shiro trailed off, unsure of what to say. “Something happened on this particular day years ago...it was all my fault and I guess I just...never fully recovered from it.”

 

Keith noticed the teacher’s gaze consistently come back to the metal prosthetic, eyes showing fear, resent, and _grief_. The ravenette glanced away, wondering what had happened, for once willingly wracking his brain for a clear cut answer.

 

The familiar sound of rain suddenly pattered against the windows, followed by the occasional passing car, honking as it went by. It was what was considered usual background noise, something mundane that Keith was still getting used to each passing second. The day had started out quite nicely, so the rain was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Keith found himself liking rain for some reason. He found it calming and beautiful in a way.

 

However, he started to feel Shiro’s panic arise again, left hand slightly gesturing to the windows. Keith’s eyes widened upon realization. The rain was making it worse.

 

He turned his head to check the classroom windows, finding them open, most likely from when Shiro wanted to let in fresh air.

 

Quickly, Keith closed each window, even drawing the curtains as a safety measure. The room was now dark aside from the few beams of light that still peaked through the curtains. Keith flipped on the light switch telekinetically as he rushed back to Shiro to help him calm back down.

 

Once again, he focused on generating a calm aura for the other to latch on to, easing the growing fear into peace of mind.

 

He thought back to the rain, how it affected Shiro, and the vague memories of his dreams. The day this “something” had happened, it had been raining. Whatever it was, Shiro’s prosthetic was linked to it all.

 

“Are you alright?” Keith asked gently. He hoped he was doing enough to help the other. He couldn’t say whether or not he was suited for this kind of role, having always been the one panicking in these scenarios.

 

“Y-Yeah...much better at least,” Shiro nodded his head slightly. “Thank you, Keith.”

 

“You don’t have to stay here,” the teacher commented after a moment of silence.

 

“I’m not going until you are feeling perfectly fine,” Keith stated.

 

“And what if I told you I am,” Shiro asked.

 

“I wouldn’t believe you,” Keith replied simply. “You’re still shaking.”

 

“You’re not wrong,” the other breathed a laugh, leaning back against the wall behind him. He closed his eyes, taking a few deep breaths.

 

Keith leaned against the wall as well, glancing at the teacher every so often.

 

“Why did you even come back here?” Shiro wondered aloud.

 

“Oh...I um forgot that poetry book again,” the ravenette lied, earning an amused laugh from the teacher beside him.

 

“I guess I’ll also have to thank your forgetfulness,” Shiro mused with a gentle smile. “If you hadn’t come back for that book, I’m not sure what I...what state I would even be in right now.”

 

“Yeah, I guess…” Keith hummed, silently thanking his visions if anything.

 

“What a coincidence, huh?” Shiro breathed, letting the student ponder over the thought for a while.

 

 _Coincidence_. He couldn’t help but remember what Pidge had said that fateful day.

 

“Have you ever heard of the theory of cause and effect? Causality?” Keith couldn’t help but ask.

 

Shiro paused to think for a moment before explaining, “It was the idea that everything happens for a reason, right? Like multiple chain reactions formed from other chain reactions.”

 

“Basically,” Keith shrugged a bit. “I’m just saying that maybe...this just happened because of all the small things you’ve done for me.”

 

“Hm,” Shiro contemplated on the thought, sitting up. “You know, you’re very insightful for your age. More so than most adults around here.”

 

“Not really,” Keith shook his head slightly. “I’m just repeating the ideas of a much smarter friend.”

 

The teacher hummed thoughtfully, standing up. He turned to give the ravenette a hand, pulling him easily to his feet.

 

“I think I’m as good as I’ll ever be today,” Shiro offered a genuine smile. “Would you believe me now?”

 

Keith observed the other, returning his own small smile. “You’re good to go...sir.”

 

The ravenette glanced at a slit between the curtains, noting that the rain had already stopped. Strange.

 

“Will you be alright heading home?” he asked for extra safety precautions.

 

“I was getting my car fixed, so I’m getting a ride from Ms. Roma today,” Shiro explained, sounding noticeably relieved.

 

“Are you late?” Keith felt himself panic a bit at the thought.

 

“No need to worry. She had to complete a few errands in the library,” Shiro reassured the teen as he gathered his things. “She should actually be done everything by now.”

 

“That’s good,” Keith bit the inside of his cheek.

 

“And what about you, Keith?” Shiro tilted his head a bit as he observed the ravenette’s initial worry dissipate.

 

“Me?” Keith blinked.

 

“I’m still the adult here, Keith,” Shiro pointed out. “I want to make sure you’re getting home safely.”

 

“Oh. Right,” Keith breathed. “I’m okay too. There’s always the good’ ol bus.”

 

 _He was cringing at that too_.

 

“Don’t forget to take care of yourself,” Shiro said sternly, shrugging on his coat.

 

Keith followed the teacher out the door and wondered for a split second if Shiro would question the mess of desks. Fortunately, the other didn’t seem to notice.

 

The taller male pulled out the classroom keys before he paused, staring at the doorknob in confusion.

 

“I could’ve sworn I had locked the door when I wasn’t feeling well,” Shiro frowned, brows furrowing.

 

 _Of course, he noticed_ that.

 

“A-Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” Keith quickly said, balling his hands into fists underneath his sleeves. “The door wasn’t locked when I got here.”

 

“Hm,” the teacher locked the door with a sigh before putting the keys away. “I guess I really am growing old and forgetting things.”

 

Keith held back a sigh of relief as Shiro turned to walk down the hallway without further questioning. The student followed a bit behind, making sure the other was alright every few seconds. He couldn't help but stare at the metal prosthetic as they walked, something drawing him physically towards it.

 

“I’ll be heading off now,” Shiro exclaimed, turning around with a halt. “And yes, I’ll be okay. No need to worry, Kogane.”

 

Keith would’ve taken the teacher’s words to heart if he didn’t start feeling a sudden shift in the energy around them, pulsing around the other’s metal arm like a moth to a flame.

 

“Your...” he began before he stopped himself. “You’re right. I should be going too.”

 

If Shiro noticed his hesitation he didn’t mention it and Keith knew it was for the better. The older male would no doubt believe he was outright insane if he said it felt like his prosthetic was charging up to blast something.

 

“You’re a good kid, Keith,” Shiro offered a smile. “Stop taking yourself for granted, alright?”

 

“Yessir,” he looked away quickly to avoid the other’s gaze.

 

“And remember to do your homework,” Shiro commented before turning to leave.

 

Keith breathed a laugh as he watched the teacher’s form disappear. He didn’t have the heart to tell him that he had accidentally assigned the exact same work from their last class.

 

Now that that was taken care of, Keith remembered that he needed to meet up with the other three for their group presentation. He bit his lip nervously, unsure of how they felt about him suddenly bailing on them. He took the time to check his phone, finding many missed calls and a few messages from Hunk telling him that they finished grabbing the snack Lance had so desperately needed and headed back to Pidge’s house. He sighed, already dreading the inevitable confrontation he’d have to face as he got onto the bus.

 

Keith closed his eyes for a brief moment, mind wandering back to the prosthetic arm. His powers had already warned him of what had happened earlier. He wondered what he was sensing this time. But the more he thought about it, the more oblivious he felt.

 

He didn’t have much more time to dwell on it as he reached his stop, making his way over to Pidge’s house. He rang the doorbell after taking a second to compose himself. The door was opened by Lance rather quickly afterwards. He yelled something Keith couldn’t quite catch to Hunk and Pidge before he flicked the hood off the shorter’s head.

 

“Hey!” Keith hissed, hands flying instinctively to cover the top of his head.

 

“Hey, yourself,” Lance poked his forehead. “I’m not the one who just ran off out of nowhere without a clear explanation.”

 

“Sorry,” Keith bit his lip. “I just forgot something in one of my classes.”

 

“And it took you more than an hour to get it?” Lance raised an eyebrow.

 

“The door was locked, the teacher wasn’t there anymore, I had to find the janitor who couldn’t find the-” Keith rambled a lot more than he intended to, pent up anxiety just spilling out like an overflowing sink.

 

“Alright, alright. No worries,” Lance poked the other again, offering a smile to ease him up. “It’s all good. Just don’t run away all ominously like that and worry all of us when you don’t answer the phone again.”

 

“Ok,” Keith murmured, inching into the house when the taller finally moved out of the doorway.

 

“You’re seriously trying to live up to the whole mystery thing, aren’t you?” Lance couldn’t help but tease.

 

“Not trying per say,” Keith answered truthfully.

 

“Ah I see,” Lance hummed. “So you are a natural born mystery.”

 

When they reached the living room, Keith gave a weak wave to Hunk who seemed to smile in relief. Pidge simply raised an eyebrow unimpressed before subtly scoffing and turning away. He took it she wasn’t the happiest at the moment.

 

“Thanks for ditching practice,” she commented sarcastically.

 

 _Definitely not the happiest_.

 

“Sorry-” Keith began quietly.

 

“Hey, Pidge it’s fine,” Lance stopped the shorter from continuing on. “He got into some trouble with the janitors and his classroom.”

 

“Whatever,” Pidge grumbled a bit before leaving the room to likely grab something.

 

Hunk cleared his throat awkwardly, sensing the growing tension in the air.

 

“So...um...what’s up guys?” he tried.

 

A beat of silence.

 

“Is Pidge mad?” Keith found himself asking before he could stop himself.

 

“She’s just stressed,” Lance explained. “She’s gonna be snappy, but try not to take anything she says to heart. I’m sure she doesn’t really mean it.”

 

“Right,” Keith murmured, unconvinced.

 

As if to stop the conversation (if you could even call it that) from continuing, Pidge walked back into the room, familiar notebook in hand. The silence of the room got a whole lot more suffocating almost choking the four to prevent them from speaking. A seemingly endless figurative loop.

 

Hunk desperately looked around the room for any possible way to diffuse the tension, eyes landing on the PACMAN and laptop on the coffee table, an idea coming to mind.

 

“Hey, uh Keith,” Hunk coughed. “Did you get to try the PACMAN yet?”

 

Keith felt his blood freeze at the question.

 

“Oh um—we don’t really need to-”

 

“We can try it now,” Lance jumped in. “It’s really cool, trust me. You feel like you’re in a sci-fi movie!”

 

“That sounds great Lance.” Was his voice wavering? Could they see him tensing up? “But seriously it’s fine.”

 

“C’mon. We can never have too many test examples,” Pidge didn’t seem opposed to the idea, her voice lacking the snap from earlier. She was already preparing her laptop.

 

They moved to the kitchen counter where the other three began setting up faster than Keith could breathe. He felt someone pull him towards one of the kitchen stools, only pliant because he was too afraid to stop it.

 

“Guys. There’s no point...we’re wasting time setting up,” Keith tried.

 

“We’re not wasting time,” Pidge frowned a bit, growing more irritable again.

 

“Here,” Lance said as he approached Keith with the PACMAN in hand.

 

Flashes of the much dimmer laboratory scattered his vision as the all too familiar feeling of a device latched onto his head. When Lance was done attaching the pads along his forehead, he could finally see Pidge’s house again. The PACMAN prickled uncomfortably on his skin.

 

“There that didn’t take too much time, now did it?” the taller boy smiled, though it did little to comfort the rising panic Keith was starting to feel.

 

“We could be practising our presentation again…” he tried again, holding his hands down in an attempt to stop them from shaking.

 

“We can always do that after,” Lance pointed out harmlessly.

 

“I think we’ll be fine,” Pidge tapped the keys a bit rougher. “We had plenty of practice when you weren’t here.”

 

“Pidge?” Hunk frowned a bit in concern.

 

“What? He has like one line,” Pidge hissed. “He frankly shouldn’t need to practise.”

 

And that was Keith’s sign to back off. Or shut up. Or both.

 

He felt the hair on the back of his neck begin to move, rising up before his hands pushed it all down again, willing his telekinesis to stop acting on his panic.

 

 _This was bad_.

 

“Pidge, you doing alright?” Lance asked, eyebrows furrowing slightly.

 

“I’m fine,” she scoffed. “Let’s just continue on with the test for god’s sake.”

 

“A-alright. What do you wanna do Keith?” Hunk cleared his throat a bit, shifting away slightly as if trying to physically leave the tension in the air.

 

“I-I’m not sure,” Keith suppressed the urge to run when he noticed Pidge frown.

 

“Well, um you like reading, right?” Hunk tried to suggest.

 

“We already did that with Lance,” Pidge retorted, tapping the keyboard twice. “We need to try something else.”

 

Keith’s eyes scanned the room quickly, feeling pressured to choose something fast—the weight of his friend’s impatience becoming overbearing. His eyes landed on a Rubik’s cube sitting on one of the shelves.

 

“I can solve a Rubik’s cube,” he said suddenly. He felt his heart begin to race faster already.

 

“Sweet,” Lance commented as Hunk grabbed the cube.

 

Hunk mixed up the cube, tossing it over to the ravenette who thanked every god in the universe for allowing him to somehow catch it. Keith stared down at the patterns of colours, focusing on solving the cube. This would be simple and easy. It would keep his mind occupied.

 

He spun the cube in his hand, moving the rows like second nature, occasionally glancing up at the three to see what they were reacting to.

 

So far, so good. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

 

He took a deep breath, trying his best to get a hold of his shaking. He tried to get lost recounting his experiences with solving a cube—how this wasn’t anything new. Maybe he began to sink too far, since he accidentally spun a row telekinetically.

 

 _Shit_.

 

“Hey,” Lance suddenly said and Keith felt his heart stop. “Guys, this line is moving right now.”

 

 _No, no, no_. _Stop_.

 

“What?” Pidge grumbled in confusion, checking the laptop herself.

 

“Um...have we ever seen this line move before?” Hunk pondered, squinting at the screen.

 

Keith bit his lip, mind flying into panic mode. He tried to remind himself of the task at hand to calm his nerves. Solve the cube.

 

Focus on the cube. _Focus_ on the _cube_.

 

“What does that line even mean?” Lance tilted his head slightly, pointing at the screen.

 

Keith regretted glancing up at that moment. He felt himself inch the laptop closed before he could stop himself.

 

“Lance, what the hell?” Pidge yelled.

 

“I didn’t do anything!” the taller boy put his hands up, backing away from the laptop.

 

“Guys let’s not fight,” Hunk frowned, pushing the laptop back to position.

 

Keith looked away, trying his best to finish solving the cube. It was so close. Only a few more spins and it would all finally be over. But whenever he so much grazed a section with his fingertips he felt his power turn it before he could process what he was doing.

 

 _Stop, stop, stop_.

 

Hunk’s eyes widened, “Um...what was that spike?”

 

The PACMAN tingled on his skin, threatening to rip off then and there and only then did Keith realize his growing panic and wish to get the device off was still triggering his telekinesis. He could only uselessly pray that nothing was coming up. That the three were only starting to gawk at results that weren’t there.

 

“Guys, seriously the lines are going crazy rig-” Lance began.

 

Keith couldn’t stop himself from ripping the PACMAN off his head at that point. It landed roughly on the kitchen counter. He winced.

 

Silence.

 

“What the actual _fuck_?!” Pidge snapped, slamming the laptop shut. Keith tried to stop himself from flinching.

 

“Pidge-” Lance started.

 

“No! Shut up, Lance! He nearly broke it!” the shorter brunette gestured to the device. “After everything we went through to make it...you can’t just expect me to let it slide!”

 

Keith felt the panic return tenfold. Pidge was mad. He made her mad. He nearly jeopardized their whole entire project. It was his fault. Calm down...calm down. If he had just focused on the cube none of this would’ve happened. Don’t do anything—

 

“Do you even _care_  about this project?” Pidge practically growled.

 

And then the panic stopped.

 

“What?” he felt himself say before he registered it.

 

“You slack off on our presentation, you show up late for god knows what shitty excuse, and now you almost broke our entire project!” she explained and with each point Keith felt his initial panic subside into something else. Something far uglier.

 

 _Anger_.

 

Lance and Hunk were in silent shock, no longer playing peacemaker.

 

Keith couldn’t expect her to understand anything he was going through. And she could _never_ know. But for some reason, her discrediting everything rubbed him the wrong way. Maybe it was because he himself didn’t understand his reason for being there. For existing.

 

His fear was still there, panic still lingering in his mind. But frustration seemed to be festering inside him as well.

 

Keith stood up from the stool, feeling the atmosphere around him almost grow surprisingly colder as flashes of the laboratory chased the moments he closed his eyes just to blink. “I care a lot more than you think.”

 

 _Or you will ever know_.

 

“Keith-” Lance finally spoke again, a bit of uncertainty in his voice.

 

And then Keith did something he wasn’t proud of.

 

“Your dog,” he managed to look Pidge straight in the eye challengingly, gaze unwavering, “is peeing on your carpet.”

 

He placed the now solved Rubik’s cube on the counter, the soft tap echoing through the tense silence.

 

Keith made a mental note to apologize to Bae Bae later, but by the time the three processed what he had just said he was making his way out the door. The autumn breeze cooled his skin as he walked further and further away from the house. It almost felt like his body couldn’t physically be close to the residence anymore, pulling him further and further down the street. He just needed to get away and think.

 

After a while, his steps slowed, everything replaying in his head from the moment he ran in that hallway to the moment he left the house.

 

He honestly could’ve handled that _much_ better. But he had just felt...too much. It was consuming him to the point where he wasn’t thinking properly at all anymore. Even now, he wondered if he was thinking clearly or if his mind was just as muddled as before.

 

Walking slower, Keith stopped a leaf falling through his line of sight. He reached for it, grazing it with his fingertips before he watched it disintegrate in his frustration. He wasn’t even angry at Pidge anymore. If anything he regretted all of it. What was he even thinking?

 

He stared solemnly at the dead leaves scattered on the ground, damp from the rain earlier.

 

He couldn’t control _it._ No matter how hard he tried…no matter how long he’s known he’s been able to do things like this. He would never be able to live with it if he didn’t know how to keep everything he felt from interfering with it. His fear...his panic...his _anger_ had already hurt someone once before.

 

He thought those seemingly endless nightmares would stop him from doing it again, but here he was, standing in a myriad of red, feeling so incredibly stupid.

 

Keith bit the inside of his cheek, grimacing at what happened again. He had to go back and apologize. To at least try to make things right. Even if he didn’t know how.

 

He turned around quickly, stepping forward only to bump straight into a running Lance.

 

“L-Lance?” he blinked, wondering if he was hallucinating for a split second.

 

“Pidge wants to talk to you,” Lance exclaimed, out of breath. “She’s...just come back.”

 

“I was gonna come back,” Keith muttered, still a bit surprised that someone actually chased after him.

 

“I know,” Lance said before coughing. “That’s not what I meant—I just had the feeling you weren’t the type of person to um…”

 

“It’s ok. I get what you’re trying to say,” Keith offered a weak smile.

 

The ravenette took a second to admire the contrast between Lance’s eyes and the orange hues surrounding them. He briefly wondered whether anyone had ever complimented him on them before. If anyone had ever told him that they looked like home...even to someone who’s never had one.

 

“Are you...ok, Keith?” Lance suddenly asked, snapping the other out of his trance.

 

“Was I that obvious?” Keith breathed, gaze falling to the ground.

 

“You were pretty skittish and scatterbrained earlier,” Lance pointed out. “Is everything alright? Look this project is really stressful. If you need to take a break or anything, it’s fine.”

 

Keith bit his lip. “That’s not exactly it.”

 

“I’m just...worried,” the shorter mused. “Really, apparently, blatantly, obviously worried.”

 

“Worried about what?” the brunet tilted his head slightly.

 

 _That he didn’t belong here_.

 

Keith watched the leaves dance in the wind, thinking of how to reply. “Everything seems drastically...temporary. I don’t know. It just feels like everything will just disappear in a few seconds. Like I’ll blink and it’ll all be gone.”

 

 _And it’ll be his fault_.

 

“Hey,” Lance gently grabbed his hand, startling him to effectively make him look up. “I’m still here, mystery.”

 

The taller squeezed his hand gently as if to prove his point.

 

“That’s not what I mea-”

 

“Public school is a tough transition,” Lance pointed out. “No one’s gonna hate you for that, you know.”

 

Oh.

 

“Really?” Keith tried to sound unconvinced, but he was more relieved if anything.

 

“It definitely won’t be what you may be feeling right now, but I was pretty frickin scared to come to Garrison,” Lance recalled, hand still entangled almost casually with the other’s.

 

“Everyone’s real smart there. A lot smarter than I thought I’d ever be,” Lance continued. “I didn’t feel like I belonged there at all. And then Pidge and Hunk made it better and then music came and swim team came...and suddenly, I felt like part of the clusterfuck that is the Garrison family.”

 

“What I’m trying to say is that you may not feel like it now, but soon you’ll understand that things happen for a reason,” the taller smiled, shrugging a bit at the statement.

 

“That’s very philosophical of you,” Keith mused.

 

“But isn’t this…” he who has read the dictionary on his spare time, ironically struggled to find the words. “A bit pointless?”

 

“What do you mean?” Lance asked.

 

“I’ve literally just met all of you,” Keith pointed out. “You guys could function properly without me, so...what’s the point of me being here at all?”

 

The wind picked up a bit, sweeping the few dry leaves scattered on the ground.

 

“I don’t know really,” Lance answered truthfully. “It’s sort of this feeling. Like we’ve known you for years even though it hasn’t been that long since we’ve met.”

 

“That seems a bit of a stretch,” Keith couldn’t help but be a pessimist.

 

They didn’t know a single thing about him after all.

 

“Well, think of it this way,” the taller brunet started. “We functioned properly without you like you said, but now we function better. Just because something works, doesn’t mean you can’t improve it.”

 

Keith still didn’t quite understand where the other was going with this idea and he guessed Lance could tell.

 

“This is getting way too intense for high school...but I feel like we’ve all been brought together for a reason,” Lance continued albeit sheepishly. “That we’re supposed to stick together through thick and thin.”

 

Keith thought back to what happened earlier with Shiro and to the day he sat down at that lunch table. He pondered over whether it was foolish to wonder if fate really was what tied everyone together. He shook his head slightly at the thought.

 

“Speaking of which,” Lance tugged the hand he was still holding a bit, drawing the other back into their current situation. “Shall we head back?”

 

“Alright, alright,” Keith breathed before adding, “Thank you, Lance.”

 

Lance turned a bit pink, but Keith was pretty sure it was just the fact that they’ve been standing in the cold for so long. The wind began to pick up again as if on cue.

 

A moment passed and neither of them move, almost too afraid to break whatever was worth maintaining standing next to one another in a world growing colder, yet ironically brighter. Keith briefly wondered why Lance was the one sent to get him to come back, yet was in seemingly no rush to do so.

 

Until he noticed the other staring at him almost observantly. The usually loud brunet wasn’t saying anything and it only made him more self-conscious. The accompanying amused smile made it worse, making him wonder if a stray leaf had caught onto his clothes or if the wind messed up his already uneven hair.

 

“What is it?” Keith finally asked, still very much confused.

 

“Nothing,” Lance offered a small smirk, “It’s just that we’re outside and you’re not wearing your hood.”

 

Keith flipped it back on as fast as he could.

 

“Really, mystery?” he heard the taller brunet sigh afterwards.

 

“Shush, let’s go,” Keith began walking, unintentionally breaking the brunet’s hold. He ignored the fact that he felt the slightest bit colder, blaming it on the wind.

 

When they arrived back at the house, the ravenette wasn’t sure how he really felt about what was about to happen. He just knew that he had to make things right.

 

Hunk and Lance quietly left the living room to give the two some space. Keith pulled his hood off gently, feeling the shorter’s gaze on him as he bit the inside of his cheek a bit nervously.

 

“Pidge, I’m sorry for-” he began.

 

“No...let me,” the shorter girl shook her head insistently. “You shouldn’t need to apologize for anything. I was the one acting like—I’m just gonna say it— _a bitch_.”

 

“It’s fine, I get it,” Keith said. “This project is really important to you.”

 

“It is, but that doesn’t mean I get to snap at other people like that,” Pidge sighed, rubbing her elbow with a frown.

 

“I should’ve been more considerate and for that I’m truly, really, really sorry Keith,” she apologized. “You’re going through a lot of changes in your life and I shouldn’t be one to judge you for them or discredit whatever you’re feeling.”

 

That may have hit closer to home than Pidge truly knew.

 

“I _did_ almost break our invention though,” Keith pointed out.

 

“Honestly, that kind of sucked,” Pidge agreed. “But you were just trying to stop my dog from peeing on my floor, so I can’t blame you for trying to act on that urgently.”

 

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Keith rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

 

“No need to apologize. It’s not like you had any control over that situation,” Pidge reasoned.

 

Keith could only let a small nervous laugh. He seriously needed to apologize to Bae Bae later.

 

“Well yeah, but I could’ve at least said something to warn everyone,” the ravenette frowned a bit.

 

“Let’s face it. We were both mad at that moment,” the shorter girl pointed out. “And I said some awful things...I’m really sorry.”

 

“It’s ok,” Keith offered softly. “I’m not putting anything against you.”

 

“I know... _I know_ ,” Pidge sighed a bit. “I just feel like shit right now and I don’t know how to fix everything.”

 

“You’re saying it’s all good, but I still feel terrible,” she frowned, staring down at the floor. “I guess it’s just human nature.”

 

“What do you mean?” Keith asked.

 

“It’s just natural I guess for people to still feel bad about certain situations. You just can’t help it…being human and all,” Pidge explained with a shrug. “It honestly sucks.”

 

“What’s done is done,” she continued softly. “And a sorry can’t always fix everything.”

 

“Hey,” Keith started gently. “You shouldn’t put all the blame on yourself. It’s not all your fault, Pidge.”

 

When she still seemed a bit unconvinced, he continued, “I was acting totally off today with zero explanation. Like you said I pretty much half-assed our presentation and just disappeared for no reason. You had the right to be mad.”

 

“No, I didn’t. Any normal person would try to find out what was bothering you,” Pidge breathed. “But not me. I proceed to be selfish and only think about the project.”

 

Sometimes he wondered if it was fair to compare people’s struggles to someone else’s. If it was okay to push someone aside under the assumption that someone else had it worse. He still screwed up regardless of why he did. It happened. And he felt like pushing the blame onto others was unfair.

 

“You weren’t the only one that was wrong,” Keith pointed out. “I think we both need to work on communicating a bit better.”

 

 _A lot better, actually_.

 

“You’re right...” Pidge agreed. “Ugh, why am I so bad at stuff like this?”

 

“It’s okay to have trouble with some stuff, you know?” the ravenette hummed. “No one expects you to be perfect.”

 

“I know, it’s just...frustrating, I guess?” the shorter girl sighed.

 

“We’ll just work on it together,” Keith offered.

 

“Yeah,” Pidge smiled slightly.

 

After a moment of mutual silence, Keith wondered if this signaled the end of their confrontation. Just when he was about to leave to bring the other two back, Pidge suddenly stopped him with a small hug.

 

“Pidge?” Keith instinctively patted her gently on the back.

 

“Sorry. It’s just that whenever I used to fight with my brother, we’d resolve it with a hug,” she explained sheepishly. “It just didn’t feel complete without it just now.”

 

“It’s really stupid, I know,” she continued with an embarrassed frown.

 

“I don’t think it’s stupid,” the ravenette mused. “I think it just means you’re a human being.”

 

How many times did others have to repeat that in their head? Him included. Pidge may seem two steps ahead of everyone else, but she was still human. And a human needed to be allowed to feel.

 

“And I know we’ve been saying this a lot,” Keith added as Pidge pulled away. “But you seriously need to take a break sometime.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she grumbled. “After the fair.”

 

Keith was about to comment on that as she began to leave the room.

 

“Actually,” Pidge stopped, smiling a bit. “I’ll call Lance and Hunk back and cache in that break.”

 

And with that she quickly went off to find the other two, who hopefully didn’t eavesdrop on their whole conversation. The ravenette sighed, taking a second to breathe. He glanced at the solved Rubik’s cube still on the counter with a grimace.

 

As if on cue, Bae Bae sauntered over and Keith took this as his opportunity to kneel down and pet the dog gently.

 

“Sorry about that,” he apologized. “I shouldn’t have made you...you know...ruin the carpet.”

 

Bae Bae simply nuzzled him as if to accept his apology. The canine no doubt had some semblance of what happened and how it was technically Keith’s fault. Animals were very intuitive beings after all.

 

Even so, the dog licked the hand petting him before leaving to the other side of the room, attention wandering elsewhere. Keith sighed in relief, still feeling immensely guilty, but content that Bae Bae didn’t hate him.

 

“A little birdie told me that we were taking a much needed break,” Lance sang, suddenly spinning into the living room.

 

“You calling me small?” Pidge hissed as she made her way to the kitchen.

 

“I was really just calling you a pigeon, but you can’t deny facts, Pidge,” the taller brunet shrugged with a carefree grin.

 

“Shut up, Fuentes,” Pidge said, though there was no bite to it. She couldn’t help but smile too.

 

Hunk sighed in relief, finally able to breathe properly. The tension was finally gone and the casual but friendly banter was back. He sat on the couch alongside Lance. Keith chose to sit on the floor in front of the coffee table.

 

“Pidgey! Soda me!” Lance yelled as the shorter girl grabbed cups for everyone and poured them a glass.

 

“Four sodas coming right up,” Pidge placed them on the coffee table, sitting down on the couch.

 

Everyone grabbed a cup. Keith simply stared at the bubbling liquid, wondering if it was even edible.

 

“Can you believe the fair is in two days?” Pidge breathed.

 

“We’ve come a long way haven’t we?” Hunk grinned.

 

“I mean we might have a bit more tweaking to do,” the younger girl pointed out. “The PACMAN was acting wild earlier. There might be some small errors I’ll have to look into later.”

 

Keith chose to stare down at the drink in his hand with a slight frown as the others nodded in agreement, a mixture of guilt and worry welling up inside him again.

 

“But that’s a later worry! Let’s make a toast!” Lance exclaimed, reminding the ravenette that this was their break. The others had worked so hard up to this point. They deserved to relax and he shouldn’t burden their fun with his worrying.

 

He tried his best to hold a faint smile.

 

“Yeah!” Hunk and Pidge cheered, holding their cups high. Keith followed suit in a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

 

“To PACMAN and the annual science fair!” Pidge grinned, clinking glasses with everyone.

 

The other three took their first sip of their drinks, content. Keith cautiously took a sip of his, taken aback by the burn of the liquid. He wondered why people would be so masochistic as to torture themselves by drinking something like this willingly.

 

“When we win gold, I’ll be a step closer to Altea Tech,” Pidge sighed, noticeably containing a giddy squeal.

 

“When we win gold, I’ll finally show my parents that my love for cooking and baking doesn’t interfere with my studies,” Hunk mused, sinking into the couch.

 

“When we win gold, I’ll have a shot at getting into the space program after we graduate,” Lance explained.

 

“The space program?” Keith couldn’t help but question.

 

“Yeah,” Lance shrugged. “A lot of people join it after they graduate and I’ve always been interested in space...plus it’ll pay well.”

 

Keith nodded his head as if he understood. He really didn’t. This was the first time Lance had ever mentioned anything remotely related to his future or his dream. He supposed he should never assume things about others, considering his situation and all, but he didn’t recall Lance ever talking about heading into the program until now.

 

“What about you, Keith?” Hunk asked innocently.

 

“Um...when we win gold,” Keith bit his lip hesitantly. “Nothing will really happen for me.”

 

“Boo! Don’t be such a Debbie Downer,” Lance poked him with a frown. “Isn’t there anything you want to do?”

 

Keith stared down at the cup in his hands. “I want…”

 

_To live. To be free. To be human._

 

“...I’m not sure, really,” he finished with uncertainty.

 

How could he possibly explain to them that all he ever wanted was a life of his own? Just a normal life. They could never understand—being extraordinary people reaching for extraordinary things. Maybe Keith was just a little tired of being “extraordinary.”

 

“There’s gotta be something you want to do,” Pidge shrugged a bit. “You might not know it just yet, but there’ll be a reason you benefit from all this.”

 

“No pressure,” Hunk added. “We still got a lot of growing left to do.”

 

“Take it from me,” he scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I still don’t know what I want to do just yet.”

 

Keith shrugged, “Maybe I’ll just end up living a simple, closed off life or something.”

 

“You make it sound like you’re gonna live in some secluded desert shack when you get older,” Lance snorted, taking a sip of his drink.

 

“I just said simple life. How did you even get to that conclusion?” Keith questioned, sipping his own drink albeit hesitantly.

 

“I don’t know maybe simple life just naturally equates to catching lizards for dinner in a desert for me,” Lance explained and at this point the shorter knew he was just messing around.

 

“Lizards?” Pidge raised an eyebrow.

 

“Well what else are you gonna eat in the desert?” Lance retorted. “Lizards were like a no-brainer.”

 

“Ugh, please stop,” Hunk grimaced. “No more figuratively eating lizards please.”

 

“I thought you were all about trying new foods,” the blue eyed boy grinned mischievously.

 

“I’m open to new foods all the time, but lizards is where I'll draw the line,” Hunk shuddered a bit at the thought.

 

Keith briefly wondered if Hunk would find the food goo he had been stuck consuming all his life just as appalling.

 

“Alright, no more lizards,” Hunk exclaimed. “Let’s talk about cake. What’s your favourite flavour?”

 

“Why the sudden question?” Pidge asked. “Also lemon cake. Fight me Fuentes.”

 

“Vanilla is a classic,” Lance said proudly. “My ma makes the best when she gets the chance—no offense bud.”

 

“None taken,” Hunk simply smiled. “I’m just making sure to get what I need for our celebratory cake.”

 

“I like that confidence, Garrett,” Pidge grinned, high fiving the other.

 

“How about you Keith?” Hunk suddenly turned to him.

 

“Oh um I...actually…” the ravenette began.

 

“I swear to god, mullet if you’ve never had cake before,” Lance put his face in his hands, looking just about ready to scream.

 

“I…” Keith really considered lying. He really did. But those countless bowls of green food goo were just flooding his memory as if they wanted to painfully remind him of the fact that he hasn’t done a lot of things considered normal.

 

“...haven’t,” he finished a bit quieter as if that would ease any of Lance’s pain.

 

“And you’re wondering why I thought of a desert shack,” said brunet sighed, shaking his head slightly. “You’re already living under a giant rock.”

 

Keith blinked. Was that some term or another reference he didn’t know yet?

 

“Whatever. You need to try cake,” Lance said in all seriousness. “So I’ve concluded that we need to try every single flavour out there to truly know his favourite.”

 

“This is just an excuse to eat a shit ton of cakes isn’t it?” Pidge pointed out flatly.

 

“Are you complaining, Pidgeot?” the other boy smirked.

 

“Hell no,” the shorter girl said in a heartbeat.

 

“I’m not really complaining either, but do we really need to do all this?” Hunk asked, scratching his head.

 

“Of course we do,” Pidge began to explain. “How else could we properly and accurately access what Keith’s favourite cake is?”

 

“Yeah,” Lance nodded his head slightly. “What if he ends up liking something obscure. Like mooncake or something? We’d never know unless he’s tried all of them.”

 

“Where would we even get all these cakes?” Hunk asked as the other two slowly began to realize that that was an important part of their whole idea.

 

“Ok change of plan,” Lance began. “What if we made all of the-”

 

“Or you can just choose what you’d think I’d like,” Keith said quickly. “I mean...I think I’d be fine with whatever you’d pick.”

 

“That works too,” Lance sighed before staring at the shorter boy intently. “You seem like a…”

 

All three of them began staring at Keith rather intensely which only made him uncomfortable.

 

“Red...velvet…” they suddenly said in perfect unison.

 

And Keith thought _he_ was the one with psychic abilities.

 

“Alright then. Lemon, vanilla, red velvet and chocolate,” Hunk hummed.

 

Keith stared at his drink in contemplation, finding his uncertainty dissolve into the stronger auras of radiating hope and confidence bursting from everybody else.

 

“How can all of you be so sure that we’re gonna win?” Keith couldn’t help but ask.

 

There was a brief pause of silence and Keith worried he killed the morale of the group with that one question.

 

“It’s not so much of certainty,” Pidge finally answered. “It’s more of the only thing we can do to keep us going. The idea of us being on top at the end is the drive that pushes us all, you know?”

 

Keith hummed, nodding his head slightly. He really was surrounded by amazing people. Amazing people with amazing futures ahead of them. He could already sense it.

 

He allowed himself to close his eyes for a brief moment, listening to his friends talk and laugh, voices mixing into a symphony Keith wished he could listen to forever. He opened his eyes, reality sinking back in as he stared at the still bubbling liquid in his cup once again.

 

If only life would be that kind to him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I’m super sorry for the late update!
> 
> I can’t say specifically when the next chapter will be, but hopefully it will be faster than this one (fingers crossed) Now that I think about it though, this chapter was a LONG one and I have a feeling the next chapter is gonna be even longer :’) Wish me luck. 
> 
> Also goddamnit AO3 I just want the things I italicized to stay italicized, is that too much to ask for?

**Author's Note:**

> Ok. So I told myself that I would stay away from the fan fiction writing scene after all the stress and pressure it put over me from past experiences...but I just find writing so much fun and I don’t feel satisfied until I write the story idea that has been driving me crazy all week. Which just happens to be this weird one I thought up randomly when I was like “what if...” and the ideas didn’t stop. And then my stupid mind told me to write it. But this time, my stupid mind is telling me that nobody is perfect and I am doing this for fun and for my joy. I’m doing this because I want to and not because I am obligated to. So I hope you enjoy the story that may or may not ever be completed because to be honest I don’t know how this will end.


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